Hope, Hostages, & Hubbub
by Reena
Summary: Duo meets a girl after Heero kind of assults her. Relena's been kidnapped by a Whitefang group that's gone into hiding. Trowa and Quatre are both wanted by two girls. Heero gets told off. Funny story, also romantic and leading up to a big mission. Rewrote
1. Chapter 1

Ok people, the Angel of Death has not died. I know I've not been posting this story for a while, but there's a good reason for that...

Chibi-Duo: Suuuuuure...

Hey, there is. I was rewriting the _whole _thing and it's better now. When I first wrote this it was....uh...

Chibi-Duo: Two years ago....

Ok, ya, two years ago...but I was only a newbie when it came to Gundam. Since then I've grown and developed--

Chibi-Duo: AN OBSESSION!!!

****

**glare** Ok, so I've got a shrine on my closet wall, SO?!?! It's to my muses, you two, so be happy I luv ya so much ****glomps and huggles****

Chibi-Duo: ****grumbles****

Chibi-Quatre: **smiles and looks happy**

Heheheheh...anywho, I'm replacing the rewritten version over the older one. Nothing much is changed, aside from spelling and making it more accurate. I've finally figured out a program which will let me save this in html format since I don't have Word on this damn computer...$3000 for a computer, and it doesn't have word...

Chibi-Duo: **shakes head** Oh what a waste...

Exactly my point. Anywho, read and enjoy the newer version of the fic ^_^ 

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Hope, Hostages, & Hubbub

Chapter 1

"Oi, Heero!" Duo slammed the door to his and Quatre's shared safe house and raced toward his friend, his chestnut braid trailing out behind him.

"Well," Duo commented, slapping Heero on the back, "aren't you in a cheery mood today, you even left for school early. What's wrong bud? You're more grave looking than usual." 

Heero was looking at the ground, a solemn expression on his face, "Relena's missing, and don't call me 'bud'" That was enough information to send Duo into a riot. Though he didn't like Relena much in the first place, she was the backbone of the pacifist hopes and he didn't want to see those fly out the window...again.

"Man, when did this happen!? How long as she been gone!? Poor you! Daijobu?" 

Heero muttered something under his breath that Duo thought contained the word 'baka' a couple of times but then, reluctantly, he gave the general details. "Last night, it was on the news this morning." They turned the corner and their high school came into view. Students dressed in their typical fuku of grey jackets and black pants or skirts, filled the front gardens. Heero spoke up again, "I think it's a last attempt by the Whitefang people that went into hiding." 

"Well then, they'll want her alive. You're not going to go after her, are you?" Duo looked at Heero and recognized the look on his face, the same one he had when he was blowing up things in Zero. "Oh no! You're not gonna dive headlong into a battle like that!!!" Duo jumped in front of the Japanese boy and spread his arms out, "You don't even know if they're the ones who took her, much less where their base is. Do some research first man, then fight."

Heero just shouldered past the braided boy and sped up his walking pace. Duo let him go, he didn't like being around Heero when he was in one of his moods, no one did. "What a guy." he muttered under his breath. "I pity anyone who gets in his way."

As if on cue Duo heard an 'oof!' in front of him and looked up to see Heero roughly pushing a blonde girl away from him. 

Duo leapt forward and caught the girl before she hit the ground, "Oi Heero, let up!" he said, giving Heeros' backside a dirty look

Heero turned his Prussian blue eyes to the girl and muttered a menacing "Watch where you're going." Before turning and walking away.

Duo shook his head and helped the girl up. "Hey doll face, Daijobu desu ka? Don't mind him, he's in a bad mood."

"Hai, I'm fine." said the blonde girl, she gave Duo a smile as he helped her pick up her stuff.

"I haven't seen you around here before, are you new?" Duo asked, blushing a bit before he realized that he'd only been here a month himself.

"Ya, I am. I just moved here and this is my first day." She shifted her books, causing her uniforms black skirt to swish, drawing Duo's eyes down. He quickly looked back up as she continued to speak. "I hope all the guys here are as nice as you, and not as...rude...as your friend." she glanced at the stoic figure of Heero as he leaned on a nearby tree, the leaves casting shadow patterns on his grey jacket.

"Nah, I'm one in a million." Duo said, then blushed furiously and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

The girl giggled and shifted her bag and books again.

Making up his mind to go for it, Duo suddenly straightened up and stuck out his hand, "My names Duo, Duo Maxwell," blushing more as he met her startled sapphire eyes he added "what's yours?" 

Laughing was heard behind them and Duo looked over to see two of his friends had joined Heero at the tree. He shot them a look and blushed even more. _C'mon Duo, get yourself together! You're a charmer, remember, the God of Death. Don't let a girl bring you to your knees, you never let Heero...well, that one time doesn't count. _He thought quickly and his blush dissipated.

The girl reached out to shake his hand, "My name's Ree—"

Heero suddenly slammed her against the wall and pinned her, his face inches from hers. "What did you say?" he asked slowly, she remembered that tone of voice, it was too much like her fathers.

She stuttered, he shook her again, "What the hell did you say girl, I'm not afraid to hurt you."

"Heero, kisama!!! Get away from her!" Duo shouted as he roughly pulled Heero away from the shaking girl, the guys who had been around Heero before were now holding him back.

Duo caught the girl as she began to sink to the ground, "Daijobu? Mou, I seem to be asking you that a lot today," he said as he carried her over to a bench and set her down. He leaned over her, his braid falling over his shoulder. He pushed it back, "He's not usually like this, his girlfriend's gone missing so he's a bit on edge. This sure is a great first day here!"

"Gomen nasai, I didn't—you didn't have to...do that." she stuttered and Duo thought he saw her blush a bit.

"Don't worry about it, Heero has that effect on people." Duo waved a hand at the figure by the tree. He heard his friends laugh some more and blushed in spite of himself. Heero was shooting death glares their way, "Gomen, I didn't get your name before we were so rudely," he looked at Heero again, "interrupted."

"I'm not sure I feel safe telling you with him around." she nodded at Heero.

"Eh? Don't worry 'bout him. He ain't gettin through me." Duo smiled down at her. _Time to turn on that good 'ole Maxwell charm. _He thought as that familiar sexy smile played across his lips.

"My name's Reena Shitaihoshi." she said, he looked over at Heero.

"See Heero, REENA, not RELENA!!!" Duo yelled over his shoulder. Heero was studying the grass like it was the most interesting thing on the Earth and trying hard not to grumble too loudly.

"Oh," Reena said, "is that his girlfriends' name?"

"Hai."

The bell rang, startling them both. They laughed and Reena grabbed a pen from her bag, "Listen, since we might not see each other for a while," she grabbed his palm, "here's my number. " she said and scrawled it across his hand. He looked up at her, dumbfounded. She just smiled "Don't be afraid to use it." She turned and ran towards the school.

Duo felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Quatre smiling at him, "A bit like the mangy mutt who chases a Porshe." the blonde smiled at Duo's look of confusion.

"Does the dog have any idea what he'd do if he actually caught the car?" Trowa finished Quatre's analogy, Duo was still puzzled. Heero walked over as well.

"You're the mangy old mutt, baka, and she's the Porshe." he clarified as he walked past, headed for the school. The rest followed suit.

Duo sat on the bench for a minute before he realized what they were saying, "Oh, oi guys!" he yelled after them as he got up and ran toward the school, "I get it now! I'm not a mutt!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, chapter 2 is up ^_^ Read, read my minions, READ!!!!!!!!!! MUAH HAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Chibi-Duo: NO! You don't laugh maniacly enough! It's BWAH HAHAHAHAHA _HA_!!!!!!!!

Oh, really?...**tries the maniacle laugh** Oooh...you're right, it _does _work better ^_^

Chibi-Quatre: **is looking scared underneath the table**

Chibi-Duo: **notices this** Hey Q-man, what's wrong?

Chibi-Quatre: zyou guys scare me...**crawls out from underneath the table** Besides, you don't do it right.

Huh, what d'ya mean Q-boy?

Chibi-Quatre: **goes Zero** BWA HA! BWA HA!! BWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HEE HEE HEE HEE!!!!!!!

Chibi-Duo: O_O;; Uh....Q-man.....? **runs when Chibi-Quatre looks at him with a feral smile**

Um....here, just read the fic........and tell me how you like the new version, would ya?

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Chapter 2

Period one and two had passed and the boys sat in their third period class. Sounds of horses shuffling and students praising and encouraging their mounts or others reverberated through the stables. 

"Heero! Stop being such a showoff!" yelled Quatre as Heeros' gelding his galloped over a high jump on the course, causing applause to come from the girls side of the arena.

"You're next Duo!" yelled the instructor.

Duo nodded at the instructor and patted his roan mare before urging her into a canter, aiming at the jump Heero had just cleared. Duo was only an intermediate rider, Heero was advanced. The jump Heero had just done was at a professional level so even Heero probably had trouble with it. Never the less, Duo wasn't gonna let Heero get all the attention. He bent over in the saddle and made sure he had perfect form as he approached the jump. His mare jumped, cleared the jump and landed on the other side. Duo felt the landing in his rear, but was sure he had done it with as much grace as Heero had, if not more. Duo heard whistles and applause from the girls side as well as the boys. He stood up in his stirrups and waved, laughing, he yelled to Heero, "See, I can do that too!"

"Very good Mr. Maxwell!" yelled the instructor, "Minna-san, calm down kudasai. Ms. Ikeda here," he said, referring to the secretary beside him, "tells me we have a new student. We need one of you girls to lead her around and get her accustomed to the place. Who would like to miss cleaning tack?"

Immediately a hand shot up from the girls side, it was attached to a dark haired girl with bright green eyes.

"Ah, Lys. Quickest hand in the west, I see. Well, you will then be exempt from all classes today, except final home room." 

The dark haired girl cheered, dismounted, and led her horse into the stables. She emerged about ten minutes later, while Trowa was doing his jumps. Duo watched as the old secretary lead her out the doors and into the yard, after that he was occupied with his next turn of jumping.

***

Lys desperately wanted an excuse to get away from fourth period, they had a trigonometry test that she hadn't studied for. When she was presented with a choice of leading around a new girl, she immediately jumped at the opportunity. 

After putting away and grooming her bay mare, she changed back into her school fuku of a black skirt and grey jacket. She put her dark brown hair up into a ponytail and ran out of the change room. She hopped across the arena while pulling up her white knee-high socks and almost fell at Ms. Ikedas' feet. She righted herself and was lead out into the courtyard. She passed the back gardens and longed to stop at the fountain to splash her face with the cool water but instead, followed the secretary through another pair of doors to the main office. Once inside, the secretary introduced her to a blonde girl named Reena.

"Konnichi wa, my name's Lys Takashi, hajimemashite." She bowed slightly to the newer girl "I guess I get to show you around today." she smiled at the blonde girl and Reena smiled back. 

The contrast between the two girls was evident almost immediately. Lys's hair was dark and about mid-back length while Reena's was waist length and light blonde. Lys's eyes were green and Reena's were a deep blue. It was obvious, as well, that Lys was also very loud, this girl seemed quiet. 

_Oh my, _Lys thought as she led the girl down the hall and around the first corner, _is this ever going to be boring! _Lys looked back to make sure Reena was following her, seeing that she was she tried to think of something to say. "So, Reena, ano...." she started, "where are you from?" she asked nervously, trying to make conversation.

Reena was looking behind her, making sure the office and the people inside it were far away, she turned back around to find Lys looking at her, "Nani? Oh! Gomen, I just don't like those people in there, they're all so...old!" Reena smiled sheepishly.

Lys was taken aback, _that was an act she put on? This could get to be fun!_ she smiled back at Reena and agreed, "Where would you like to go first?" she asked and spun around in the hall as she listed off various places and pointed in their general direction.

Right away Reena answered the stables, she had to check on her horse. Lys obliged and led her back the way they had come. As they went, Lys pointed out places and made jokes about the teachers. Reena laughed at them all and put in a couple about her old teachers. By the time they got back to the stable they were talking and laughing like old friends.

"Oi! Ami! Come meet this girl!" yelled Lys through the stables, her previous class was just finishing, the students taking care of their horses. Lys went to get one of her friends and Reena went to her stallions stall to check him over.

***

Duo lead his mare into the barn aisle and down to her stall, fifth from the end. He closed the door and turned to walk to the change rooms when he heard a voice coming from the stall next to him. _That's funny, _he thought, _that stall's supposed to be empty. I wonder who's in there._ He peeked around the corner and into the stall to be greeted by the face of a big black horse, _an Arabian, if I'm any judge_, he thought. He heard a female voice talking to the horse as well, though he couldn't see over the horses back_, She sounds pretty, _he thought, _might as well take a look_. Duo undid the latch to the stall and let himself in, closing it behind him. He walked around the horse to get a better view of the girl. With a shock, Duo realized it was Reena. She was petting the horse and cooing nonsense into its ears, _Lucky horse! _he thought jealously as he carefully positioned himself leaning on the wall. 

"Your horse?" he asked softly, Reena still jumped. She turned around to find him standing there.

"Hai, he is. I had him shipped in from my old school." dropping the brush she had been using into a bucket on the side of the stall, she gave her horse a final pat and led the way out. "Duo-kun?" she asked.

"Yup."

"Don't ever do that to me again, Ok?"

He smiled mischievously, "I can be awful quiet when I need to be, can't I? And just call me Duo, I don't need the fancy titles."

She giggled and they talked for a while. Duo found that Reena was in most of his classes and that she was the new student that Lys was leading around.

"Where is Lys anyway?" he asked, scanning the aisle for her. He saw his three friends and waved them over. "Reena, I'd like you to meet Quatre," he gestured to the blonde boy, "Trowa," the boy with light brown hair nodded, "and," said Duo, "I believe you've already met Heero." Heero looked the same as he had that morning, ready to kill.

Reena turned and whispered to Duo, "Does he ever smile?"

Duo blushed at having Reena's lips so close to his ear and started to get some ideas. He shook his head, both to signal a no and to clear those thoughts from his mind. _Like she'd ever like me. I'm just a lowly street rat, or more like a mangy mutt. _he thought. "If he does, you're in trouble." he whispered back.

Lys ran down the barn aisle with her friend in tow. "Oh, I see you've already met these guys. This," she said, referring to the girl with curly light brown hair that was standing beside her, " is Ami."

"Hajimemashite Reena." Ami said, then turned to Trowa, "So, ano...Trowa? I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on my form?" she asked the surprised Trowa. "For class." she added, seeing him blush.

"Ano...hai, anytime."

"Great, arigato. How about Saturday after lunch? I've got a free period." she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, ore mo. hai, I'd love to." Trowa was blushing a bit more.

"Sugoi, gotta go, ja ne!" she said, then ran off down the aisle. Trowa just starred after her.

"Well Reena, we should get going. There's a lot of school here and we have only two periods to see it in, with lunch in-between." Lys said, taking her arm and pulling her out the door, "Ja Quatre, ja ne minna-san!" she yelled back. Reena waved to Duo as she was pulled around the corner.

"Oi, Quatre, I think that Lys girl is interested in you." Duo smiled and clapped his friend on the back of his shoulder, "She said ja to _you _first. And you," he said, going over to Trowa, "are going to have your eyes _glued_ to Ami's form when you help her out tomorrow, aren't you?"

The two guys started after Duo and he was chased into the boys locker room.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok loyal fans!!! **crickets chirp, a lone person is heard clapping** --_--;; 

Chibi-Duo: What a following....**looks out into the crowd from atop her head**

Oh shuddup you...hey, how'd you lose Q-babe?

Chibi-Duo: **hides under her hair** Ssshhhh!!! He'll find me...**looks around warily**

Chibi-Quatre: **sneaks up behind him from under another piece of hair** GOTCHA!!! **glomps**

Chibi-Duo: AAAAH!!!! **being dragged off by his braid** Lemme go! Lemme go!!!

Hee hee....^_^...endless sources of amusement. So, anyway...review this, and if you ask a question in your review, be sure to include an e-mail address. I can't respong if I don't know how to contact you. Oh, and I'M NOT DEAD!

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Chapter 3

Duo, Heero and Trowa were sitting at their usual lunch table, discussing the location of the new Whitefang base and methods of surveillance and attack they could use to see if that was truly where Relena was. Quatre walked up and stuck his head over Duo's shoulder, causing the braided one to jump. The blonde smiled and whispered to Duo, "Look slowly to the table three to the left and up one." then sat down on the other side of him.

Duo nonchalantly stretched and looked over. Sitting at the afor mentioned table were Reena, Ami and Lys, all of them were looking their way. Duo caught Reena's eye and winked, she blushed and turned around, as did the other girls when the rest of the guys, minus Heero, waved. The boys laughed, all but Heero. The conversation turned to the girls and who each of them had their eyes on. Reena was Duo's, the guys laughed at this. Trowa liked Ami, which wasn't surprising, and Lys obviously liked Quatre. Quatre wasn't sure about his feelings for her right yet, though he did admit she was quite cute. 

***

The girls were at a their regular lunch table, Reena had joined them, and they were starring, as usual, at their respective guys.

"Hey, Reena. I hope you're not after Trowa." Ami warned when she caught Reena looking at the boys table as well.

"Take a pill Ami, Reena's eyes are all for Duo...right Reena?" Lys poked her and Reena jumped.

"Hmm? Ya, Duo." she mumbled, looking around surprised. She then turned back to watching the boys.

"Geeze, you two are pathetic! They're just guys!" exasperated, Lys turned to talk to another girl.

"Hey Lys, Quatre just walked over." said Reena absently, Lys immediately joined them in their admiring. Reena and Ami spared enough time to give her a weird look.

"What?" she asked, noticing them.

Just then Duo stretched and caught Reena's eye, he winked. Reena blushed and turned away. Ami and Lys didn't notice until their respective guys raised their hands and waved. Both blushed crimson and turned back to their lunches.

"Hey guys, how 'bout you come over after school today," suggested Reena, changing the subject, "I have a pool so we could go swimming."

"Really?" asked Lys as she ate her last bit of chocolate pocky, "Where do you live?"

"Within walking distance." Reena answered, "Six Swanmay Terrace."

"Honto!?" Lys almost choked on her pocky before she continued. "I live in number two and Ami lives across the street from me! Number six? Isn't that that big mansion? You live _there_?" asked Lys, a bit loudly.

"Hai, it's great that you two live so close. You could just grab your stuff on the way over." Reena answered and gathered her things. "Ami? Are you gonna come?" Reena asked, the girl had been keeping quiet.

"Hai, I'll come. I was just thinking...why don't you invite the guys over too?" she suggested, nodding toward the guys table.

"Wai! Ami, that's a great idea! C'mon Ree, you should invite them too! Just think," Lys got a mischievous look in her eyes as she was trying to convince Reena. "Duo, in swim trunks...all wet..."

"Fine, fine! You convinced me!" she sighed and got up from their table. She looked back to see Lys urging her on and Ami smiling encouragingly. Blushing slightly, she began walking over to the boys table.

***

"Oi, mutt," Trowa nudged Duo and nodded down the cafeteria hall, " here comes the Porshe." Duo looked up to see Reena nervously walking toward the table amidst whistles and catcalls from many other students on the boys side.

"Hey doll face, what's up?" Duo asked and leaned back a bit on his chair, trying to look cool. He almost fell but quickly righted himself, he was sure she hadn't noticed. Quatre stifled a laugh and Duo shot him a good imitation of Heeros' death glare.

"Hi braid boy." she smiled at him sweetly. He blushed. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to come over to my house after school. I have a pool so you could all cool off." she suggested.

"Well," said Duo a little too quickly, "I'm in. Guys?" he looked around questioningly."Ami and Lys are coming too." Reena added, seeing the guys were a bit confused. _Mou, do they think I'm _that_ friendly?! I only like Duo..._

Understanding dawned on the boys and they quickly nodded. Duo looked at Heero questioningly.

"I have better things to do with my time then frolicking in a pool," Heero said coldly, "especially in _her_ pool." He gave Reena a dirty look. Heero knew he was acting childish but he really didn't care. Duo was his before, and even though it was a mutual break-up, he still felt jealous. _You have Relena, remember? Get yourself together Yuy!_

That was the last straw for Reena, "Ok Heero, I don't know what I ever did to you, but I can list a lot of things you've done to me, and I've only known you a day." She started, her sapphire eyes clouding over as she continued. "I'm trying my best to be nice to you and you're acting like a spoiled brat!" Heero kept his head down but did his best to glare at her. It was painfully clear to him how right she was thus far but he refused to admit it. Reena placed her hand on her hip and matched his death glare with one of her own as she continued. "Excuse me if I decide to try to be nice to you, even though you threatened me this morning. I felt I should give you another shot to smooth things over and prove you're not a total baka. I think you should learn when, and when not to, open your big mouth because your opinions are not always needed, or particularly _wanted_." she sighed exasperatedly and apologetically turned to the other guys, "See you later? I live on Swanmay Terrace, number six."

They all nodded, too shocked to say anything. Reena turned and began to walk across the now silent cafeteria. She paused a minute, as if thinking about something. She sighed again before calling over her shoulder. "The invite still stands for you Heero."

Heero looked up, his Prussian eyes big with shock. The others were just as speechless. Duo recovered first, "Heero," he said solemnly and shook his head, "you got told!" he looked up with a huge grin. _Man,_ Duo thought, _even I've never said anything like that to Heero. She has guts. I like her!_

Heero looked at Duo, still shocked. Trowa and Quatre looked at each other, smiled, then said in unison, "_Oh _ya!" 

All but Heero exploded into laughter, he was still too shocked. _No one's ever stood up to me like that...maybe she's right for Duo..._

"So," asked Trowa after they had calmed down, "Duo, now that the mutt's closing in on the car, does he have any idea yet of what he'll do if he catches it?"

Duo just looked at Trowa and gave him his trademark smirk.


	4. Chapter 4

Like it so far? I hope you people do. I've been looking through my reviews lately and found a couple names I recognize from some mailing lists I'm on...

Chibi-Duo: AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! **a 'bwat bwat bwat' is heard**

o_o;; Ya, anyway...so if anyone out there is on DuoML, DuoxQuatrexWufeiYaoi2x4x5, YaoiQuatreDuoMl, or any others that you might recognize me from, tell me so if you review it. I've been wondering if I should post this to some of the lists. Some of the reviewers fics I've read, they're better than me...(Enigma...damn good author)

Chibi-Duo: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!! **runs into the room, only to b caught by the braid and drug back into the other room where the 'bwat bwat bwat' resumes**

Chibi-Quatre: I am the master of the pillows!!!

Chibi-Duo: Uncle! **bwat** I believe you! **bwat** NO MORE PILLOW FIGHTS!! **bwat bwat BWAT**

Chibi-Quatre: **walks into this room smiling peacefully and innocently** Hi ^_^

Ooookay......o_O;; Uh, hey Q-boy...where's Du-chan?

Chibi-Quatre: **smiles brightly** Unconscious ^_^ 

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Chapter 4

Students erupted from every door in Odiba high as the last bell wrung. Amongst the throng were Lys, Reena, and Ami

Lys lead the way to the sidewalk, introducing Reena to many people as she went. By the time they had finally worked their way through the crowd to the street and began to walk towards home, Reena was having trouble remembering everyone's names.

"You'll learn them all." Lys said reassuringly as she ducked under a tree branch.

"After all," said Ami, "if _Lys _can remember them, you should be able to. Lys has no memory."

Lys gave Ami a look and stuck out her tongue.

"Oi, Reena! Chotto matte!" yelled a voice behind the girls. Reena looked back to find Duo jogging towards them. She looked back at the two girls and mouthed "Keep going." as she stopped to wait for him to catch up. He slid to a stop beside her, his braid whipping around his waist.

"Hi." she smiled at him, he blushed.

"Ano...hey. I was just wondering," he said as they followed behind Ami and Lys, "would it really be Ok if Heero came?"

"Hai, as much as that baka annoys me I'd still like to get to know him." she shifted her bag so she was carrying it in front of her. "He has this cool air of mystery around him and I like the strong silent type." she finished, looking at her feet as they walked and wondering what his reaction would be.

Duo was a bit shocked, he looked at her wide-eyed, not believing what she had said, _I thought she liked me!_ _It figures, classy girls and street rats don't mix. Damn Maxwell, you got your hopes up again..._

Reena noticed Duo's dejected look and smiled, "I really like the strong and loud type too." she said quickly, that seemed to nurse his bruised ego, "Besides, guys with long hair really are hot." 

"That's good to know." he said with relief, Reena laughed. Duo blushed and silently thanked his three feet of hair. "Ano...is it Ok if me and the guys are a bit late? Around 3:00 maybe?" he asked. They still had to talk about that Relena brat. Reena nodded and said good-bye to Duo as he turned to walk down his street. She rounded the corner to see Ami and Lys smiling at her from their spot on a wooden bench.

"Nani?" she asked.

"That was good, that was _so_ good." stated Lys as the two of them got up and continued walking, "Now you know for sure that he likes you. I mean, did you see the look on his face when he thought you liked Heero? Priceless!" she and Ami laughed, soon to be joined by Reena as they walked down their own street.

_Maybe,_ she thought to herself as she laughed along with the girls, _maybe he does like me..._


	5. Chapter 5

****

I know, I know. The last chapter was short...blah blah. I'm postng a lot today so be grateful...BOO YA!

Chibi-Quatre: **drinking Kool-Aid out of chibi tea cups** We're almost out...

Of what, Kool-Aid? I bought 8 packs this morning....

Chibi-Quatre: **sheepish, yet still innocent smile** I know, **Cheshire grin** and they were good ^_^

Ugh....how many are left?

Chibi-Quatre: About half...

Four left? Oh, no problem there...

Chibi-Quatre: No, **holds up a pack** I meant half of this one...

Oh....peachy....--_--;; Save some for Du-chan. When d'you think he'll become sentient again?

Chibi-Quatre: In about an hour...

****

Chapter 5

Duo grabbed his stuff with one hand while he tried to keep the phone to his ear with the other.

"I think," Trowa was saying on the phone, "that we should try looking over their old bases. Maybe we could find some clues of where the new one is, or if there even _is_ a new one." He said, referring to the Relena problem. Frankly, Duo was happy to have her gone. Heero had always thought of her when Duo was with him, Duo was sure of that. He had no clue how Heero could ever fall for Relena's type, for Pete's sake she _talks_ to herself. He gave a mental shrug, _It wouldn't have worked out between us anyway_. He thought, and knew he was right. _Heero's just too different from me. Besides, we both know he likes her more, I was just a way to get the war off his mind. Maybe it's her pacifist nature... _Duo sighed, _Whatever._

"Hai, good idea." He mumbled absent mindedly as he held the phone with his shoulder and he jumped around trying to pull on his black shorts.

"Are you listening?" asked Trowa, "Or are you getting ready to go over to that girls'?"

"We have to be there in 15 minutes, kitto I'm getting ready!" Duo answered as he pulled on a black tank top. "You've probably been primping your hair for the last hour!" He retorted. Trowa was silent and Duo laughed, "See! I'm right! You're gonna grab Mr. Pessimistic on your way over, ne?" He asked, referring to Heero.

"Sure, leave the possibly violent guy to me." Trowa shot back, "He might mess up your hair."

Duo started to laugh, _if anyone was to complain about someone messing up their hair it would be Trowa._ He thought. He then realized his hair was still un-braided. "Kuso!" he swore and Trowa laughed at him.

"I knew it, you always forget that. I'll leave you to your tangled mess as long as you get Quatre on your way by." Trowa said, but Duo had already hung up to begin to braid his chestnut mop.

_Damn damn damn damn kuso!, _he thought as he sat on the edge of his bed and rapidly tried to get his hair into its traditional braid. _I shouldn't have took that nap! _he cursed himself as he wrapped the black band around his completed braid and ran out the door of his room.

"Whoa! Duo, chotto matte!" yelled Quatre, who was waiting for him outside his door. "We still have 10 minutes, slow down!" Duo screeched to a halt.

"Oops, just a bit excited. We should really get going though." he said coolly as he grabbed Quatre and dragged him out the door of their shared safe house and down the street.

***

Trowa hung up the phone and made one final touch to his hair before he left the bathroom. He walked down the hall and knocked on Heero's bedroom door. "C'mon Heero! Duo'll have a conniption if we're late!" 

The door opened and Heero stepped out, pushing Trowa out of his way.

"Urusai already." Heero stated coldly as he walked out down the hall and out of the house. Trowa followed behind him and shut the front door.

"You better not've messed up my hair!" Trowa said under his breath. Hearing this, Heero just shook his head and let a small smile play across his lips. Living with Trowa was a perfect arrangement. After he and Duo had gone their separate ways in the relationship they had both decided to switch roommates. Trowa and Heero got along fine. Both of them were silent and, unlike Duo, Trowa didn't really feel the urge to belt out Bon Jovi songs in the shower. Heero suspected that Duo was happy with Quatre as his new partner. Those two were closer than brothers and Heero thought it would be good for Duo if he felt he had to look out for someone once in awhile.

The two boys walked in companionable silence as they rounded the corner and started to walk down Swanmay Terrace, passing 12 and 10 on one side and 11 and 9 on the other. They were walking from the far end of the street.

Trowa saw Quatre and Duo walking at the other end and raised his hand in a sort of wave. Duo waved back and stopped at the gate of a huge grey-stone house that read number six.

"This must be it." said Trowa as he and Heero joined Duo at the gate. Duo nodded and pointed to the little intercom on a big iron pillar that was holding the iron gate.

"Pretty ritzy, eh? Quatre," He asked the blonde boy, "how do I use this thing?"

Quatre sighed and pressed the button that said 'Talk'.

***

"C'mon Reena!" pleaded Lys, "You gotta kiss him when he comes in!" 

"No!" Reena said as she plopped down on a poolside chair. The other girls were already in the water.

"Well then," stated Ami, "at least let him see your bathing suit. He'll love it!"

"I will, I will." Reena sighed. They had obviously gone through this several times before. "I'm just waiting till he gets here. I don't want to have to climb out of the pool to answer the intercom, if it gets wet it goes berserk." She was sitting, wrapped in her towel as the other girls dived off the board and tried to get her wet.

"How's he ever gonna know you like him?" Lys asked as she dunked Ami. "And besides, you could get Jonas to answer the intercom thingy." The girl came up and coughed, then went after Lys.

"Nah, today's Jonas' day off. I told him to go have some fun or do whatever guys like to do." Reena muttered as she relaxed on the deck chair.

Jonas was something like Reena's butler, thought she didn't like to think of him like that. More of a big brother than anything else. He was the only person Reena was sure she could trust in the entire world right now, and she appreciated something as stable as he was. Although he was older than her, he wasn't an old man. She guessed his age around mid-twenties, though he'd never tell her.

Reena sighed again and closed her eyes just as the intercom buzzed. Muttering something about a lack of relaxation time, she went over and answered it, hushing the two girls. They stopped chasing each other and treaded water peacefully so they could hear the conversation. "Hello?" Reena asked in her usual cheery voice.

She heard what she thought was Heero's voice, "Now speak into it you imbecile." 

"Ano...Reena? We're here." said Duo tentatively. Lys giggled.

"Sugoi, we're around back, in the pool." answered Reena, "Is Heero with you?"

"Hai, Mr. Tulips is as cheerful as ever." said Duo, then she heard a muffled 'itai!' come from that side of the intercom, she giggled, "C'mon in." she said as she pressed the button for the gate. 

Reena turned to the two girls as Lys was saying to Ami, "She doesn't like him that much you know...if she did she would kiss him. Now that Amber girl at school'll be all over him. _She'd_ kiss him."

"_Oh _no," said Reena, "I _do_ like Duo! And fine, I _will_ kiss him when he comes around that corner!" she said loudly.

***

Duo rubbed his bruised shoulder where Heero had punched him, "That hurt!" he pouted as he walked through the gates, followed by Quatre and Trowa laughing and the pissed Heero. 

They walked down the gravel drive way and toward the big gray mansion that lie ahead of them. Well, it was a mansion to Duo. The roof, from what he could see, was flat and served as a balcony, there was a single small tower in the middle of the roof, and it spiraled up about 30 feet before ending in another balcony, this one had edges like that of a castle. All in all, Duo was impressed.

The boys followed a path around the side of the house, "So," asked Trowa as they went, thought Duo wasn't paying attention and had turned his interest to the bushes and willow trees in the back, growing roses and lilies that were mostly purple. Growing up on the streets he didn't have the opportunity to see many flowers, living in a colony made them even more rare. Duo was scanning the flowers with his jaw open in amazement, he thought he saw a bush in the back that had darker flowers, almost black, but he dismissed it as a trick of the light. Duo then realized Trowa was talking to him.

"Eh?" He asked, turning back to look at Trowa.

"Does the mutt have any idea of what he'll do yet?" Trowa asked, Duo thought he saw a smirk but dismissed that too. 

_Sugoi, _he thought, _more hallucinations, just what I need. You, Maxwell, are going insane...more so._

Just then, they heard Reena's voice, "I do like Duo! And fine, I _will_ kiss him when he comes around the corner!" 

Duo looked at Trowa and grinned, "This mangy _mutt_ just got himself a new car!" he said quietly and turned the corner of the house to find Reena with her back to him, talking to the girls in the pool, the guys came around behind him.

"You won't," said Ami, "you'll chicken out!"

"Will not!" said Reena, "Soon as he rounds that corner I'll kiss him!"

Duo stepped up behind her, put his arms around her waist and spun her around to face him, "Not if I beat you to it!" he stated and kissed her. _I can't believe I'm doing this! _he thought, _the God of Death brought to his knees by a girl, not possible!_

Reena reached up and put her arms around Duo's neck, letting go of her towel. Quatre, Trowa and, yes, even Heero were all smirking at Duo and Reena as they kissed, but their eyes got wide when Reena dropped her towel and she had a bare back. Heero's eyes widened considerably as he starred, wide mouthed, at the pair. From what he could see, Reena's back was bare, no strings or straps or anything that would hold up a top. she had on white bikini bottoms and, to all appearances, nothing else but a dragon tattoo at the small of her back. Duo opened his eyes and saw the three guys looking at them, and Heero standing there with his mouth open wide. Trowa pointed to Reena's back and Duo ran his hand up it, feeling nothing, he gave them a weird look, then his eyes opened in understanding and the guys nodded. 

Reena broke off the kiss with Duo and smiled at him, "Hi," she said sheepishly, "guess you heard me, ne?" He nodded, a blush working its' way across his face. Reena went to step back but she found he was still holding her, she giggled, "You mind?" he let her go and tried to keep his eyes glued to her face, she gave him a look. "You haven't said anything about my bathing suit. Well, what d'ya think?" she stepped back and as Duo slowly looked down his eyes went wide, she had on a white top.

The three guys, seeing Duo's eyes go wide, expected their suspicions were correct.

"Well?" said Reena. Duo was speechless, then looked over her shoulder to see Quatre, Trowa, and Heero with their mouths open wider than before, _I've never seen Heero like that! _thought Duo as he smiled mischievously at Reena, playing along with their guess. She got the point as he said, "I love that look! Why don't you turn around and show the guys." she giggled and winked before turning to the three boys. Quatre's hand flew up over his eyes as his face went crimson. Trowa looked down, blushing considerably. Heero just stayed frozen in place.

"Well guys," she said teasingly, "look at me and tell me if you like what you see." Trowa slowly looked up and sighed in relief when he saw she actually had a top on. Quatre took that sigh for something else and refused to move his hand away from his eyes, shaking his head vigorously. Trowa elbowed him and the blonde peeked out, sighing with relief. Duo and Reena laughed at the two of them, "Mou," she said, "I'm not _that _friendly guys! It ties up around my neck and has two invisible straps across my shoulders. Heero, close your mouth." she said, turning to the boy who was frozen in place. He recovered and blushed, looking down at the tile patterns like he had just noticed them. Everyone laughed at this, which caused him to blush even more.


	6. Chapter 6

Muah ha! I have decided that when I get 15 reviews for my rewritten version I'll post Chapter 13...

Chibi-Quatre: Don't you have to post seven to 12 as of yet?

Ya, but I'll post up to 12 today, and then people review them, and then I post 13 tomorrow...

Chibi-Duo: **staggers out of bedroom** Kool.....Aid....

Chibi-Quatre: **hides it behind his back** What was that Du-chan?

Chibi-Duo: Must...have...**in a sudden burst of energy Duo glomps the blonde Chibi and plants a kiss smack on his lips**

Chibi-Quatre: AAH! **is kissed** Mmph mumph mrr... **blushes**

Chibi-Duo: **grabs the Kool-Aid and runs** Ha HA! The God of Death Strikes again...SHINIGAMI IS BAA~AACK!

Heheh...surprise tactics...I've tought you well my little minion...

Chibi-Quatre: **pouts as he sees the Braided Chibi sprout his chibi bat wings and flutter off with the remaining Kool-Aid** Not fair.....

I'm getting some more...you've got wings, chase him...

Chibi-Quatre: Good idea! **sprouts his chibi feathered wings and takes off**

What did I say, endless sources of amusement...

****

Chapter 6

The grey gelding galloped to the next jump and cleared it, the girl in the saddle turned and aimed the horse at the next jump. 

"That was good, Ami! Try raising your seat a little next time!"

"Got it Trowa!" she yelled back as she turned toward the next fence. She raised her seat and double-checked her form as she neared the jump. _He's really helping me! _She thought excitedly._ And he told me to raise my seat…that means he was checking out my--_, her horse suddenly shied and she was forced to move with it. The gelding did a tight circle and began to buck. Ami was thrown from the saddle and landed on her back at the side of the jump, unconscious. 

"AMI!!!" yelled Trowa as he jumped off the fence and raced over to the still form of the light brown haired girl lying in the sand. "Daijobu? Ami, wake up!" he said as he kneeled beside her and cradled her head in his hands, he looked around, trying to find someone else around them. There wasn't. _Kitto there isn't,_ he thought,_ it's Saturday you baka, most people are at home!_

Ami groaned and stirred in his arms. Trowa looked down at her as her eyes flickered open, he and smiled, "Welcome back to the land of the living. For a second I thought Duo had gotten to you. Daijobu?" 

Ami gave him a puzzled look and simply stated, "Itai!" Trowa laughed and suggested that that was enough riding for today. She agreed and he helped her up and onto a stool in the tack room, explaining that he'd put away her horse while she gathered her wits. Ami sat on the stool and tried to calm the aching pain in her head as she watched Trowa walk back out to get her gelding.

Trowa walked out into the empty arena, save for the horse standing at the far end with its head down and its coat shining with sweat. The horse turned a wary eye on the approaching boy. "It's Ok," said Trowa in a soft voice, "C'mere and I'll put you in your stall." The horse backed up a few steps and gave him the horse equivalent of the evil eye.

Ami was watching all this in amazement, _I never knew this side of Trowa existed!_ She giggled as she heard him say calmly to the horse, "Now stop acting like Heero. If you come back to your stall quietly I won't have to destroy you."

"Oh ya, tell him that!" she yelled across the arena, it made her head hurt more. Trowa looked back at her and gave her a lop-sided smile, closely resembling one of Duo's.

"It doesn't matter what you say…as long as you make sure their gaining something in the deal. This horse will not be turned into dog food if he follows me back to his stall. I think that's a pretty good deal, don't you?" He asked.

Ami just shook her head and waved him back to his work.

"Ok horse, if you help me impress this girl I'll let you have a couple carrots…and maybe some sugar cubes too." Trowa whispered to the gelding. The horses' ears perked up and he turned to face the green-eyed boy. Backing up slowly, Trowa turned around and began to walk towards the horses' stall. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the gelding was following him, it was. As Trowa walked by Ami, who was still sitting on the stool, he gave her a thumbs up sign and winked as she giggled at him and the horse. "Smart horse." He said and led the horse into its stall, closing the door behind him.

Ami got up from the stool and went down to the geldings' stall, watching Trowa take off all of the horses' tack and place it over the hay rack. He pulled a carrot and some sugar cubes out of his pocket and handed them to the now calm horse. Trowa then proceeded to groom the gelding from head to tail. Picking up a brush from the bucket outside the stall door, Ami let herself in and started to help. "Daijobu desu ka?" asked Trowa.

"Hai, a bit better. I still have a headache though." She answered as they both finished grooming. The gelding gave a swoosh of his grey tail as Trowa grabbed the bridal and saddle from the hay rack and Ami opened the stall door for him as he carried it to the tack room.

"Trowa?" she asked as she sat down on her stool and grabbed a piece of the bridal to start to clean.

"Hmm…?" he answered, scrubbing at the saddle.

"Arigato"

"For what?" he looked up at her, confused.

"For helping me out, with my form and…everything else." Ami finished, blushing.

_So she does like me!_ Trowa thought when he caught her blushing. "No problem." He said, then got an idea. "Ano…could you pass me that sponge over there?" he asked as he pointed to a soap covered sponge.

"Hai, sure." She said and threw it at his waiting hands, he deliberately missed it and the soap suds splashed against his grey shirt. "Oh, gomen!" she gasped. He looked down at his shirt, looked up at her and smiled mischievously, an unusual sight on Trowa. He grabbed his sponge and threw it lightly at her. It hit her on the shoulder. Shocked, Ami looked at him before grinning and throwing her soap-laden sponge at him. This fight went on for a while, them dodging and hiding behind the other pieces of tack, eventually causing everything in the room to be covered in soapsuds. Trowa caught Ami as she was running around a saddle stand and looked down at her, a slight smile on his face and in his emerald eyes. She looked back up and him surprised. He closed his eyes and bent down toward her, heard her gasp then felt her kissing him back. Trowa wrapped his arms around Ami's waist and she wrapped hers around his neck.

When they finally parted from the kiss, Trowa looked around the room, "We should really clean this up." He stated.

"In a minute." She said as she pulled him close for another kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

La dee da...**takes a sip of her Clearly Canadian Strawberry Melon beverage out of a plastic champagne glass** I so deserve this relaxing time...I had exams today, Business and French. I also forgot to study for them --_--;; **watches her muses fly around in the air, chasing each other** But on a good note, I think I did Ok on the Business one, it wasn't as hard as I had been anticipating...but I think I bombed the French one. I tought myself Japanese in six months, and I can understand it better than I can understand French, which they have been attempting to teach my since grade four...

Chibi-Duo: **dive-bombs Angels' head** Prepare to meet your MAKER!!!

Erk...**fixes hair** .....ebil muses...ebil ebil...**throws a Chinese fighting muffin at him** Prepare to meet your BAKER!!!

Chibi-Duo: **is hit by said Chinese fighting muffin** Itai!!! Mayday, mayday...I'm going down **spirals into a pillow**

Bingo...nice shot, I am so good.

Chibi-Duo: **sticks his head up from the pillows, hair all frizzy** Not at all modest either.

Chibi-Quatre: **dive-bombs him into the pillow once more and bounces off, fluttering over to land on Angels' head** Hee hee....the Angel of Life makes another one miserable!!!

****

Chapter 7

The screen of the laptop cast eerie shadows on Heero Yuys' face as he typed away methodically. He had been trying, for over an hour, to hack into a new program he found hidden on an old Whitefang disk.

"baka thing!" He cursed as yet another error message came onto the screen, "Ok, override you…delete that…and…NO!!!" an error message popped up. Heero cursed and slammed his fist down on the table. "You're not being very cooperative..." he growled at his computer and put his head in his hands, trying to ward off the oncoming headache.

"Talking to your computer now?" asked Trowa as he passed Heeros' room. He stopped and leaned on the door way. "WuFei said something about a meeting soon. We should get a call to go over any time now." Trowa informed the frustrated Japanese boy. Just then, the phone rang. 

Heero swung his chair around and answered it, "What the hell do you want?!?!?"

"Ya know most people answer the phone with a 'Hello' or a greeting like that." Came a cheery voice from the other end.

"I'm busy!" Heero yelled at Duo, "I found a file on an old Whitefang disk."

"Oh, well, I just thought I'd let you know that Wu-man has discovered some info." Duo stated, "There's a meeting over at my place in an hour. WuFei has some good information we all should hear before trying to rescue Relena."

Heero hung up on Duo and picked up his laptop. Unplugging it rapidly he stalked out the door.

"Not even a 'Good bye Duo'. What a guy." Duo said into the hung up phone.

***

"C'mon Reena, he gave you that key so you could use it!" said Lys from behind her stack of pancakes as she poured a generous amount of syrup over top of them. The girls had spent the night at Reenas' house and had prodded Jonas to make them breakfast. It had taken the better part of an hour but Lys had had fun flirting with the older boy.

"Hai, but Duo only gave me his house key for emergencies." Reena answered back from behind her modest stack of three chocolate-butterscotch chip pancakes. All the girls were still in their pajamas' and Reena had looked forward to either vegging out or going to the mall today, she didn't want to get Duo mad at her.

"Then he winked." Ami put in, who had just finished telling them about what had happened yesterday with her and Trowa. Lys was still a bit miffed at the idea of everyone but her having a boyfriend.

"Urusai!" Lys gave Ami an evil look. 

Ami proceeded to pull down her eye lid and stick out her tongue."I have a boyfriend and you don't!" she stated. Lys threw a napkin at her but it landed in the middle of the table.

"Still Reena, Duo's probably missing his precious towel and he _probably_ wants it back. We'll come over with you when you go to give it back to him." Lys said, shoving the last three pancakes into her mouth and smiling at the two girls.

Reena sighed and, seeing it was no use arguing with the head-strong girl, followed Lys and Ami upstairs into her room.

"Should we put our suits on?" asked Ami, "That way when we come back we can jump right into the pool."

"Sure, it's so hot out that we'll probably want to." Lys answered.

Reena walked out from behind the dressing screen she had in her room and earned disapproving looks from the other girls. 

"What?" she asked.

"You aren't wearing _that_, are you?" Lys asked.

"What's wrong with it?" she looked down at her black jeans and purple t-shirt.

"It's not something _I'd_ wear if I was going over to my boyfriends house for the first time." Lys said and threw her a white tank top.

"But," Ami added as Reena changed into the tank top, "Lys, you don't _have_ a boyfriend."

"Urusai baka."

"You look great." Ami assured Reena as they walked out the door.

Lys was throwing random objects at Ami because of her earlier comments. Ami turned around to say something when a leaf landed in her mouth. She shot a death glare at Lys as her and Reena were trying to suppress their giggles. Ami spat out the leaf and jumped at Lys, who dodged and was chased down the street and in the general direction of Duo's house, Reena followed at a jog. 

The girls were out of breath from their chase and Reena was just about to ring the doorbell when she heard voices inside.

"Well," a male voice she had never heard before was saying, "I remember hearing something about a base hidden in the Sahara desert."

"Sandrock can take that." She recognized Quatre's voice. 

Lys motioned her on with the key and Reena shook her head and put her finger to her lips signaling the need for silence. She began to turn and walk away from the door when she felt a hand grab her and pull her towards the window. She turned to find Lys with a devilish look in her eyes, Reena sighed again and crouched down under the window with her and Ami.

"I don't like doing this." Reena whispered but Lys ignored her and poked her head over the windowsill. She crouched back down.

"Five guys." She said, "Quatre, Duo, Trowa, Heero and a Chinese guy."

"Relena is probably a hostage in that base." Heero said, Lys recognized his voice.

"Hai," the Unknown guy was speaking now, "I found this tape at one of the old bases that I searched with Nataku, it was addressed to all the pilots." Unknown guy finished and the girls heard the sound of someone slipping a tape into the VCR.

"Hello Gundam pilots." Said a voice Reena found very familiar, "I know that you five boys have probably found this tape and are now watching it to discover the whereabouts of Relena Darlian. Well, Heero Yuy, pilot of Wing Zero, if you would like to find her alive and also save Colony L1 you and your fellow Gundam pilots, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner, Trowa Barton and Chang WuFei, will come to our base and surrender your Gundams. Otherwise, your beloved Relena will be killed and Colony L1 will be destroyed. I invite you to try to solve this puzzle. You have until May 27th. Good day." 

Reena gasped as she heard a multitude of opinions come from inside, "You know what that means?" she asked the two girls, they both nodded.

"Hai, they got a tape meant for someone else." Lys stated, Ami hit her on the back of the head. 

"No! Those guys are the pilots of the Gundams!" Reena whispered loudly.

"OH MY GOD!!!!" screamed Lys, "THEY'RE THE ACTUAL GUNDAM PILOTS!?!?!?!?" 

Reena and Ami tried to hush her but the front door to the house swung open and the three girls were face to face with a big gun, attached to a _very_ pissed Heero. 


	8. Chapter 8

Aaah...I'm so sorry to all the people I'm keeping waiting. I have chapter 24 written, but I'm not going to post it until these parts are read. Why, you may ask...

Chibi-Duo: Yes, enlighten us...

Well **splats him** because you won't get the newer parts unless you read the first chapters again, since I rewrote them.

Chibi-Quatre: **biting into the Chinese fighting muffin** eeew....**spits out** no good

I _know _that, that's why I threw it at him **pokes the splated Chibi-Duo**

Chibi-Duo: **bites her finger** HA!

Itai....baka...**smush**

Chibi-Duo: Itaaaiii.....**is smushed**

Anywho, if you peoplewho have reviewed this before and want more still are reading this, let me know...ok? That way I'll know enough the get the newer chapters up.

Chibi-Quatre: If you encorage her enough--

Chibi-Duo: through death threats...

Chibi-Quatre: **smushes Chibi-Duo** --without death threats, then she'll get up the new parts by the end of the summer.

I hope to finish this by the end of the summer. School is such a downer...

****

Chapter 8 

"Omae o korosu." Stated Heero and cocked the gun, aiming it at Reena's head.

Duo and the rest of the guys flew out of the door behind Heero and saw the three girls. Reena stood up slowly, followed by the other two girls, Heero kept a steady aim on her. His trigger finger tensed up and Duo jumped in front of the gun, pushing Reena out of the way as Trowa grabbed Heero and caused him to fire a shot wildly through the air that ended up putting a hole through Duo's mailbox and caused the girls to scream. Trowa, with the help of Quatre, wrestled the gun away from Heero and pushed him back inside the house. Duo helped the girls up and led them into the house.

"We need to talk." He said to them.

"Onnas." WuFei, who had been calmly leaning against the door frame, muttered as he followed them in.

"Zakennayo." Reena simply stated, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

WuFei closed the door behind them as Duo led the girls inside and politely ordered them to sit down, "What did you hear?" he asked Reena. She looked up at him, afraid of the look he might give her, and silently thanked the gods for giving Duo such an optimistic mind. She debated lying to him but then saw the looks on both Heero and WuFei's faces and thought better of it.

"About a couple minutes of what was said before the video." She answered.

"They must die!" yelled Heero and jumped up, looking around for his gun.

"Maybe not." said Trowa, who was reluctant to see Heero murder his new girlfriend. He looked at Ami, "Could you guys help us out in any way?" he asked her.

"Well," Ami answered, "I can keep big mouth over here," she pointed at Lys, "quiet about some things."

"Obviously not." Grumbled Heero.

"I said some, not all." Ami answered back.

"What about you?" Quatre asked Lys.

"I can blow stuff up." She stated hopefully, Quatre laughed.

"Like we need another Heero." He stated, between gasps for air. Lys just crossed her arms and began to pout.

"Heero," began Duo, "you don't have to kill them just because they know who we are. You _still_ haven't killed Relena, even though she just begs for it every time you see her." Heero gave him a dirty look. Moving on to a semi safer subject Duo inquired as to what Reena's special talent was.

"I'm good with computers." She stated.

"How good?" came Heero's reply.

"Very good." She answered, holding his stare. He broke off first.

"Fine then, I have a test for you. If you pass it I'll let you live." Heero stated, grabbing his laptop. "Here, try to get into the hidden program." He sat the computer down on the wooden table and pulled out a chair. Reena got up and walked over to it, plopped down and typed for about ten seconds.

"There." She stated and got up, "Is that all? Or is there another program in this one that you wanted me to get into?"

Heero sat down in her place and fiddled with his computer for a couple minutes, "How'd you do that?" he finally asked.

"Pure talent." She answered sweetly, Duo tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh.

"I think she's in." said Quatre, the others agreed, WuFei and Heero somewhat grudgingly.

"Well" said Duo, "I guess we should show them the video." Heero made some affirmative noise as he was still trying to figure out what Reena had done to make the program work.

Trowa slipped in the tape and the face of a dark haired middle-aged man came up on the screen and repeated what they had already heard outside. 

Reena realized immediately why she had recognized the mans voice and gasped, earning a look from Duo. She just kept her eyes glued to the screen and he eventually turned back.

_Oh my god! It's actually him, he's really still alive!!!_


	9. Chapter 9

Mrreh....

Chibi-Duo: English please....

Mou.....

Chibi-Duo: Japanese is good too...

Well...**glomps a startled Chibi-Quatre and huggles him** I dun wanna give up my Q-baby...**pouts**

Chibi-Duo: huh?

Chibi-Quatre: **smiles, lets self be huggled, looks happy, contented, and basically like a cat with a full stomach**

Chibi-Duo: **sticks tongue out at the other chibi** What do you mean, 'give him up'?

Chibi-Quatre: **looks confused and slightly scared, with shiney chibi eyes** Give me up?

No no no, it's just that in this fic I give you to Lyssie-chan. You know, so she can have some hottie G-boy to glomp...

Chibi-Quatre: I'm still your muse though, right?

Uh-huh...**looks down at a pouting Chibi-Duo**...oh sheesh....**picks him up and huggles him too**...I still love you to ya know. Tell them to read my fic.

Both Chibi's: Read her fic! 

Ha, no one can resist Chibi Power!

Chapter 9

"We should really get on with the mission." Stated Quatre, "Heero, have you

figured out the location of the base yet?"

"Hn…Ninmu Ryoukai."Heero answered as he got up from the computer and

closed it up. "You two can live." He stated, looking at Ami and Lys, "But, you're staying at the base until this mission's over. Reena, you're coming with us."

Reena was shocked, _I'm helping on this mission_, she thought with alarm, _but I can't, I might have to kill…him!_ Reena just nodded to Heero, WuFei exploded at that point.

"Baka onnas! Why are we jeopardizing our mission for them?!?! Heero, just kill the weaklings and lets be rid of them." That outbreak was followed immediately by an 'oof' as Reena turned quickly and shot a blow to his stomach.

"That hurt, didn't it?" she said, giving him a sickeningly sweet look, "Weakling my ass!" she muttered as she looked down at her feet. Lys and Ami looked at her with wide eyes, as did the rest of the pilots. Most of them couldn't even hit WuFei when he convinced them to spar with him. Heero was the only one that had managed to beat him, but only once. The four pilots walked out the door, followed by Lys, Reena, and Ami, who were in turn followed by WuFei.

Heero walked over to the neighbors house and studied the van there, "No alarms." He announced to Duo and stepped back. Duo pulled out a bunch of lock picks from his braid and selected the best one. He fiddled with the lock on the drivers side for a couple minutes. Stepping back, he announced "Ta-daa!" as he opened he van door, "Please wait for our other guide to demonstrate the proper way to hot-wire a vehicle."

Heero pushed him out of the way and slid in under the steering wheel, emerging a while later and situating himself in the drivers seat. He flicked the un-lock switch, "Get in."

Duo opened the door to the back and motioned Reena and the other girls inside, telling Ami and Lys to sit in the back with Quatre and Reena, Trowa and WuFei to sit in the middle. Duo slammed that door and climbed into the front seat, beside Heero.

"Who's driving this thing?" asked Lys from the back, Quatre whispered the answer Heero. Lys flipped, "Chotto matte, you don't have a license! You mean I have to stay at the base while she," pokes Reena, "gets to go and have fun!?!? How's that fair!?!? I want out…let me out of this thing!!!"

"Urusai right now or omae o korosu." Stated Heero calmly, Lys was immediately

quiet.

"It's Ok." Quatre soothed, seeing the girl was frightened. "All that's going to happen is you're going to stay at the base while we go and fight. You won't get hurt that way. Also, people from the Whitefang federation won't be able to capture you. Then we'll let you go."

Trowa noticed Ami had been keeping very quiet as well. He turned around in his seat to look at her, she had tears in her eyes. "It'll be Ok Ami, I promise. I won't let Heero do anything to you or your friends." He assured her, Quatre and Duo repeated his promise as Heero concentrated on driving. WuFei just rolled his eyes and stared out the window, refusing to join in the conversation of the weak people. _As much as I hate to admit it, that girl's fast. Heero's punches are weaker when he's fighting. This girl obviously has had some very good training. _WuFei mentally grumbled and realized with a shock that the blow she gave him still hurt.

Heero pulled up into the opening of a huge building. Reena looked around and saw abandoned car parts and other various bits of machinery hanging around the dirt covered piece of land. The outside of the building was supposed to be a peach color, she guessed, but it was stained a dirty brown. It looked like, and probably was, an abandoned warehouse. Duo hopped out and opened the garage-like door of the warehouse, allowing Heero to drive the van through. Duo followed them in and slammed the door shut behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

Hm...well....here's the next chapter. I hope you guys are still reading this. I've gotta go over some of my other stories and write more for them too. Maybe, quite possibly actually, there will be a sequel to this. But let me finish it first before I start to think about that. I've got two other fics I intend on finishing: Angel of Mine and Yorkdale Mall. Those should be finished soon. Angel of Mine has only two or three more parts left. I then have to do a Zelda one, which will be big, and a couple originals. Plus the manga I'm working on, plus another four or five Gundam ones until I"m out of ideas...and a Card Captor Sakura one. So, as you can see--

Chibi-Duo: She's busy, don't hound her

--I've got a lot of work. **rolls eyes** I need to be hounded to finish. 

Chibi-Quatre: She accepts bribes...**blushes at the astonished looks he recieves for the comment**...look, I'm out of Kool-Aid...I'm not in a good mood.

Lol, I'll get more, promise. Read this people, and enjoy.

****

Chapter 10

Heero got out of the car, followed by the rest of the Gundam pilots. Duo told the girls to stay where they were for a minute while the guys talked about what to do.

Reena, Ami, and Lys nodded silently and watched the guys gather in front of the van. Lys and Ami were looking out the windows at the five Gundams that lined the walls. 

"They're huge!!!" gasped Ami, her eyes wide as she looked at them with a mixture of fear and awe.

"Hai..." agreed Lys, trailing off as she tried to see the top of one of the MS. Reena glanced at the Gundams, not terribly surprised. She had seen them before, while the little war was going on. Her friends and her were in a group of people captured by some Aries MS and one of the Gundams had helped them out. Looking to her left she saw one that looked vaguely familiar. Lots of guns on it and it was red and orange, she remembered it running out of ammo too. Wondering which Gundam belonged to which pilot, and wanting to hear the conversation going on ten feet in front of the vehicle, she unbuckled her seat-belt and leaned forward. The window opened quietly and the two girls pulled her back from it. She pushed their hands off her and motioned for them to keep quiet.

"I'm not going to get out! I thought we were trying to figure out what's going on. Listen." she whispered and gave them both looks that meant 'no arguing, or else' as she turned around and pretended to be staring at the Gundams.

"How would they know if we found the tape by the 27th? It's the 24th now!" asked Quatre.

"They might have spies." Heero said coldly, he was in a bad mood, very bad.

"Or they would've just blown it all up, if we found it in time or not." stated the cheerful Duo, "They might've just been hoping for a fight."

"Either way," WuFei stated calmly, "we have to save that onna, Relena, and Colony L1 from destruction."

_Hai, _Heero thought, _that's my Colony._

All the guys agreed with WuFei on that and Duo brought up the subject of the girls."What's going on with Lys and Ami? What use will Reena have in this?" he asked, "I don't want her to get hurt."

"Reena will come with us and manipulate some computers." Heero told him, "Bring them out now." 

Duo walked back over to the van as Reena climbed into the front seat and casually put her hand on the window button, causing it to rise back up before he got back. Duo opened the door and helped her out. Opening the back door, Lys and Ami were let out too.

"C'mon." he said and led them over to the rest of the guys. Ami ran over beside Trowa and grabbed his arm, looking up at him unsure. He smiled comfortingly and slid his hand around her waist.

Lys stood beside Quatre, who awkwardly put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him, surprised. Flashing her an encouraging smile and blushing, he looked at Heero, "Well, the girls?"

"They stay out here or they can go into that room." Heero gestured towards and old looking part of the building that had an open door and a couple beds. Obviously, that was where the pilots stayed when they were planning all night. Heero looked pointedly at Lys, "Don't touch anything." Lys looked down at her feet. "Reena is coming with us to strategize for the mission." with that he turned and walked down the middle of the warehouse and through an old door. Trowa and Quatre told the girls to stay put, but they could feel free to look at the Gundams. They pointed out their own and warned them not to get to close to the one on the far right with the big red shield. Duo pointed out his Gundam, "Deathscythe-Hell." he said proudly, pointing to the big black one.

Reena noted this, as well as the names of the other Gundams. Quatre's Sandrock and Trowa's Heavyarms. _It was Trowa's, _she realized, _that saved our group._

Trowa and Quatre then followed Heero and WuFei into the room at the other end of the building, Duo and Reena behind them.

"Trowa!" yelled Lys after him, "I think we'll both just go to bed. Sayonara in advance you guys!"

Trowa nodded and Quatre looked back and smiled. Reena waved as Duo gave the 'thumbs up' sign and they both walked into the room and shut the door.

Lys waited a few minutes and walked down into the room they were supposed to go to. She flicked on the light and grabbed some pillows from the beds. Ami lied down on one and watched her, confused. 

Lys stuffed the pillows under the covers and made a body-like shape that looked surprisingly real, "Ok." she said and went over to Ami's newly claimed bed.

"What are you doing?" asked Ami as Lys motioned for her to get up.

"We're not staying here while they get to have all the fun." she said and made a second 'body' out of pillows.

Ami looked at the shapes critically, "You're very good at that." she finally said.

"I get a lot of practice." Lys shrugged and went over to the door. She popped her head around the corner and checked to see if any of the guys were out. They weren't. She whispered to Ami, "Come on!" and flicked off the light, Ami followed her as they silently ran across the building and climbed the stairs to the big platforms for entering the Gundams. Lys looked at Ami, "Remember which one is Trowas'?" Ami nodded, "Ok, follow me into Quatres'." Lys climbed over the guard rail and hopped onto the platform of Gundam Sandrock, looking back she motioned to the other girl, who quickly scrambled over as well. Lys walked in.

The inside was lit a bit from the lights of the warehouse so the two girls could see what was in the cockpit. A big chair with a harness, a lot of buttons and three big screens in the front. Lys was looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" asked Ami, irritated with the girl and afraid of getting caught. Lys sighed exasperatedly and jumped around the floor in her anger, causing a small door to pop open, revealing a storage space. She looked in.

"This." she stated as she moved a couple things out of the way and looked in, "Do you think this is big enough for two people, or do you want to go hide in Trowa's?" she asked.

Ami realized what she meant and smiled at Lys as she left for Trowa's Gundam.

Satisfied that Ami would be Ok, Lys climbed into the little box and waited for Quatre.

***

"What we have to do," stated Heero, who was studying a map of the base on the disk Reena had gotten to work, "Is blow up this place here." He pointed to a dome shaped part of the largest building. "My guess is that's where the missile that will take out the colony is. I figure Relena is somewhere in the main corridor, probably close to the main part. Reena and I will take care of that. Reena, you'll be in charge of disarming the missile and getting Relena out of there while I fix the locks on the automatic doors and take out some of the guards. You will then exit through this door here," Heero pointed to a door between where the main corridor and the dome met, "and meet me. Relena comes with me and you'll be picked up by Duo, got that?" Reena nodded.

"Good." Heero continued, "You guys will be out here fighting the MS and protecting Wing. I plan on there being at least 100 Aries, at least 200 Taurus and a batch of Leos thrown in, be ready for them." The pilots nodded. "We'll leave tonight, and camp out." he brought up a new screen with a detailed map of the Sahara desert and clicked on the surrounding area, bringing up five spots on the screen, "Here, here, here, and here. I take here. Make sure you've got these co-ordinates down." The boys each committed their spot to memory. Trowa was between sand dunes, Quatre by some rocks, Heero on the south side of the base, with desert behind him, WuFei also in the sand, and Duo on the outskirts of the desert, in a lightly forested area.

"We camp here and attack together in the morning as soon as WuFei gives us the go ahead over the comm. unit. We'll ambush the base from all sides and attack that way. If my calculations are correct, we should be just out of range of their radar, if not, we'll find out. Reena, you're riding with Duo." Reena nodded, "Do you have any combat skills?" he asked.

"Not with a MS," she answered, "but I'm dead accurate with a gun and I'm good with a sword. I'm also highly ranked in hand to hand." Reena thought back to when her father insisted on lessons for things like that. She was very good at everything he got her into, though he never encouraged her or showed interest past her ability. It didn't matter if she had wanted the lessons or not, she had gotten them. Not lessons like piano or ballet, lessons for skills that a soldier would be trained for, shooting, swordplay, riding was even taken away from being fun to drills and jumps and other soldier-like activities. _He wished his only child was a boy! _she thought, _and he left because I wasn't good enough at it for him! Kuso yaro! _she mentally cursed him, _Oh well, I'll probably see you soon enough oto-san._

Heero nodded approval and threw her a gun, a .38 revolver, "You'll be able to use this then." he said coldly, "Don't let emotion get in the way, kill whoever you need to to save that girl and the Colony, got it?"

She nodded and everyone got up to leave. Heero walked out first and noticed the girls weren't around, he looked at Trowa and Quatre questioningly, "In bed." they answered. Heero went over to the door and opened it quietly, he saw the still forms of the two girls asleep in the beds and closed the door. He nodded to the Gundams.


	11. Chapter 11

I've been on the computer for almost three hours...--_--;;

Chibi-Duo: But it's fun.

Chibi-WuFei: 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 53 seconds. 54, 55, 56...**walks out of the room still looking at his watch**

Where'd he come from?

Chibi-Quatre: **over by the window** Um, Angel-chan...you might wanna take a look at this...

Nani? **looks out the window, sees all her chibi's running amok** Uh-oh...how'd they get out? GAH! Must get them oraganized before the Chibi-Brittany Spears and the Chibi-Relena's get together....GAH! **races out the door in an attempt to organize her vast array of Chibi's**

Chibi-Duo: **shudders at the prospect of what Angel just said** Bad, very very BAD!

Chibi-Quatre: **nods head** Anyway...read this while she's gone.

****

Chapter 11

Lys heard the boys talking as they left the planning room and headed up the steps to their Gundams. Curled up comfortably inside, she closed the door to the little storage space. She heard Quatre land on the platform and the sound of his shoes against the floor of the Gundam as he came in. Typing could be heard as Quatre sat down, the engines started and a voice over the comm. unit, _Heero's, _she thought, give the order to move out.

She heard Quatres' response and felt the Gundam moving. Lys rearranged herself in her box and fell asleep listening to the droning of the Gundam around her.

***

Duo leapt over the guard rail and helped Reena over, catching her by the waist when she jumped and twirling her around. He was about to move in for a kiss when she pushed him away gently and walked into the Gundam, he followed her in and pressed the button to close the door. Thinking the reason she hadn't wanted to kiss was because all the guys were out there, he pulled her close again.

"Yammete Duo, kudasai." she said as she pushed him away again. He gave her a confused look as she turned and walked over to the pilots chair and stood behind it.

Duo looked hurt, but came over and plopped down on the chair as Heero popped up on the comm. screen.

"Ready to go." he stated and Duo nodded, though Heero hadn't formed it as a question. Heero nodded back and Duo started the Gundam.

"Hold on." he warned. Reena noticed he didn't put on the harness that was attached to his seat, when she asked why, he told her it was too confining and he fought better without it.

"So, Duo said as they started on their way, "what's wrong?"

"Nan demo nai yo." Reena answered. _I'm afraid, _she thought, _Afraid he'll be like my father was, or all the other guys I've known._

"Then why won't you let me kiss you?" he asked

Reena was stuck for an excuse that she could tell him so she just said, "Because."

_Damn woman! _Duo thought frustratedly at Reena, _I know there's something wrong, maybe she's just a bit scared of this whole thing. I know she's scared...I just don't know what of. _

Duo checked his screen and saw a spot with a lot of rocky hills where he could land the Gundam, he called the guys on the comm. unit.

"Just gotta check something. Go ahead, I'll catch up." he told them, landing Deathscythe in a small clearing, the other pilots kept going.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong with Deathscythe?" asked Reena when they landed, Duo got out of his seat.

"Nothing's wrong with my Gundam, it's you that needs an adjustment." he stated, walking over to her, she backed away.

"What do you mean?" she asked shakily as she backed away from the advancing Duo.

"You're acting weird Reena, I want to know if it's something I did." He asked her, she bumped in the wall and couldn't back up anymore. He looked her in the eyes, he saw fear. _What is she afraid of?!?!? _he asked himself, he took another step towards her, _She couldn't be...._

Panicking, Reena pulled out the gun Heero had given her and aimed it at Duo, "Don't come any closer." she warned him, he stopped in his tracks.

_She is! _he realized, _She's afraid of me!!!_

"Whoa, Reena. Calm down. What are you afraid of?" he reached out to touch her arm and she flinched, he pulled his hand back quickly as he got an idea, _She thinks I'm going to hurt her!!! ME???_

"Reena," he said soothingly, "I won't hurt you, I would never hurt you. Is that why you're afraid? Did a guy hurt you before?" he asked. She looked warily at him and nodded.

"Have _I_ ever hurt you?" he asked her.

"Reena shook her head, "Demo," she stated, "someone has always been around. That was what it was like with him too. He was really nice until we were alone. It doesn't help knowing you kill for a living. I don't feel very secure." 

"Reena, I would never hurt you. You mean a lot to me." he said softly, she didn't look convinced, "Reena, c'mon. I'm not one of those guys, I'd never lay a hand on you. Ree...look at me, look at my eyes. I'm not lying to you. Not all guys hit, I care deeply for you and I'd give my life to protect you." her sky blue eyes starred into his amethyst ones, searching for an answer. "Shoot me if you want, if you don't believe me. I'll never hurt you Reena...never."

Reena found the answer there, she dropped the gun and raced over to Duo. Throwing her arms around him, she cried into his black shirt. He held her for a while, running his hands through her hair and letting her cry.

"Gomen nasai Duo." she whispered and looked up at him, he wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

"S'okay," he said softly and smiled, "I'm used to death threats."

Reena laughed and he gave her a lopsided grin. He looked down at her and leaned in close, whispering in her ear.

"I'll never hurt you Reena, I'll never let anyone hurt you. Never." then he kissed her neck. She put her hand on his cheek and he looked at her, his amethyst eyes starring into hers again, this time there was no fear.

"I know that now." she said. He leaned closer to her and his lips brushed softly against hers.

"Don't run away, never leave me, I couldn't bare you leaving me. Can we just...stay...like this." he whispered and pressed his lips to hers in a slow kiss. He let his tongue lightly slide across her top lip, asking entrance. She moaned in agreement and he felt her relax in his arms and lean against him, her arms coming over his shoulders and around the back of his neck.

He let his tongue explore more and felt her shiver, he held her tighter.

_This is what I wanted. Reena...oh god, I care about her so much! I'm not ready to die on this mission, I'm not ready to let go of this yet._

"Reena..." he breathed softly.

"Duo..." she whispered back. He slid his arms up her back and under her white tank top. It was starting to get interesting when Quatre's voice came on over the comm. unit and his picture flashed on the screen.

"Duo, what's up? Everything Ok?"

Quatre's picture on the screen meant the video communication lines had opened and Quatre could see them. They jumped apart and everyone blushed.

"Oh, ano...gomen. You've been grounded for 15 minutes Duo, you should get going. Your camp's not very far...rest up there." Quatre finished, averting his eyes while Reena straightened her top.

"Hai Quatre, arigato." Duo gave him a 'couldn't you've waited five minutes?' look and Quatre signed off.

"We better get going." Reena said softly, coming up behind Duo, who was sitting in the pilots chair.

"But we were havin fun." he pouted, she pulled his braid back, which caused his head to tilt up, and kissed him.

"We'll have fun when we get there." she said teasingly and winked.

"Normally I'd kill someone for that." he said, rubbing the back of his head, "But you're an exception. Do it again!"

She laughed and kissed him again, "C'mon, lets go. I wanna take a bath if there's a pond nearby. _Before_ all the meat eaters come out."

With that Duo promptly turned around and started up Deathscythe. The roar of the generators was heard and they were on their way again.


	12. Chapter 12

Ok, uploaded chapter 12 finally. Here, read it and review it. **runs back out door**

Chibi-Duo: The Chibi's are coming!

Chibi-Quatre: **shaking finger, looking cute** Remember, 15 reviews before the new part 13 goes up.

Chibi-Duo: **pulls his braid up to his chin** I see Chibi people....

****

Chapter 12

Quatre landed Sandrock and stepped out of his chair, stretching lazily, "Ooh," he sighed, "am I ever glad _that_ flight's over. Ai shiteru Sandrock, but this is _way _too confining." 

He blew his bangs out of his eyes as he turned around to fetch some supplies from the storage box in the floor. Kicking open the door he gasped and fell to his rear on the ground, waking up the slumbering Lys.

"Oh!" she stretched and yawned, "Are we there yet?" 

Quatre just sat there with a bewildered expression on his face.

"That certainly is a dignified position." she said, noticing Quatre. The blonde looked as if he had been dumped on the floor. Lys stood up and stepped out of the box, stepping over Quatre as she did so, he scrambled to his feet.

"What are you doing here!? Why are you here!? And what exactly are you doing here?!" he almost shouted at her.

"I was _not_ going to stay at that boring old base, no way! I decided to come with you, you'll need my help." she answered, shaking her finger in his face.

"You're right, I will after Heero gets through with me." he sighed and opened the hatch. Lys walked out and Quatre grabbed a blanket, some food, and matches from the storage box then closed it back up. Lys was waiting for him outside.

"Heero'll be busy with Trowa too." she said absently as she looked across the desert, "How'd we get here? Where is here?" she asked him.

"You mean Trowa's stuck with Ami?! Oh this is great. You're both going to get yourselves killed!" he threw up his hands and sat on the edge of the platform, dangling his feet off it. "We're in the Sahara dessert, it took about three hours to get here." he answered her last question as he looked over the edge of the platform and debated jumping, _It'd be a lot less painful than what Heero's gonna do to me_.

"_How'd _we get here?" she repeated, sitting beside Quatre and looking up at the moon, which was out even though it was only around 7:00 pm. by her guess.

"Sandrock." he answered, starring out into the distance, though all that was there to Lys was sand, sand, and more sand. Not even a little water anywhere, _Other then the lack of water, this would make a great beach, _she thought absentmindedly.

"He has jets, didn't take long to get here." Quatre finished, Lys nodded.

"So, when do we eat?" she asked him expectantly.

***

Heavyarms powered down and Trowa hit the hatch release button, walking out into the hot desert air that greeted him. When the noise of his Gundams generators quieted down he heard another noise, _Wonder what that could be, _he thought, _sounds like screaming._

Trowa walked back into his Gundam and looked at the storage hatch, "Seems to be coming from here." he muttered as he kicked the hatch open. A purple and white blur jumped up, pushed Trowa aside, and raced out to the platform of the landed Gundam.

"Air!!! Fresh air!!!" the figure gasped, curly brown hair being whipped around by the wind.

"Ami!?!?" he asked, shocked. The figure turned around, he could see it defiantly was Ami, dressed in white jeans and a purple top. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Ano...hi Trowa." she waved, then sucked in a huge breath. "Before you even ask, Lys decided to sneak into Quatre's Gundam cause she didn't want to stay back at the base alone and I didn't want to stay there without anyone else so I snuck into yours. I can be really helpful and I really hope you're not mad at me or you won't kill me." she blurted out, all in that one breath, and looked at Trowa for his reaction. Trowa stood there for a minute, sorting out all the girl had said then answered carefully and evenly.

"First, I'm not going to kill you, you know better than to think that. I'm a bit mad that you did sneak in though," he said, noticing Amis' crestfallen expression, he added, "but that's because you might get hurt, not because I don't want to be with you. Also, Heero might hurt _me_ now. Since you're here now and I can't take you back I'll have to make some use of you as I see fit. Really Ami, what persuaded you to come? Besides Lys?" he asked her. She blushed and looked down at her feet.

"I—" she started, then bit her lip, "I wanted to be with you." she stated quietly. Trowa smiled brightly, an unusual sight on Trowa, and walked over to the blushing figure of Ami.

Ami looked up to find Trowa looking down at her, she gasped as his hands came around her waist and he pressed his lips to hers. 


	13. Chapter 13

****

Chapter 13

"Commander! They've found the tape!" reported a soldier, saluting his commander.

"Good." the dark haired man dismissed his soldier, sitting down at his desk. _That camera surveillance system worked successfully!_ he thought with smile on his face, _Now I can get those damn Gundam pilots back for what they did to Whitefang._

"Sir," a soldier ran walked into his office, "a set of five signs showed up briefly on the radar, then disappeared." the young man stood in the middle of the floor straight as a statue, saluting his Commander.

"They're here." the Commander smiled, "Prepare for battle, make it quick. Expect an attack within the next 48 hours. Don't make preparations obvious."

"Sir!" the soldier nodded, "Anything else Commander?" he asked, turning to go.

_I wonder how they found the location of this base, _thought the Commander, _I'm sure we aren't that obvious, and we're far away from the other bases. Could there be records of this base being built on any Whitefang or OZ disks? _he wondered. Looking up at the soldier he nodded, "Tell the guard in Sector 8 to ready the Gemini." 

"Gemini Sir?" the soldier asked.

"A new MS we have. I plan on capturing a pilot or two to repay them for what they did to Whitefang and Lieutenant Lieutenant." answered the Commander, "They're the electric suits. You've seen them in action."

The soldier nodded, obviously having no clue, "Hai Commander! Will that be all Sir?"

The Commander got up from his desk and waved the young soldier out of his office. He paused at a window to look outside at the barren desert landscape and walked out of his office. The man walked down the hall, looking in on the MS in preparations for the upcoming battle, opening automatic doors with his security pass, greeting guards and giving miscellanies orders to some soldiers who looked like they had nothing to do.

Opening a computerized door, he typed in a code slipped his pass, and walked into the main control room flanked by two of his soldiers. A few soldiers turned to greet him as e made his way to the main telescope.

_All the Colonies will join us. _he thought smugly as he peered through the telescope at Colony L1, _I can blow up three if the battle gets rough, _he continued, _Colony L1, L3, and L4. I won't have time to blow up anymore if they're half as good as I've heard._

"Sir!" asked a soldier on the computers, "Colony L1, L2, L3 and L4 are in range of our missiles. Should I target 1 through 3?" he asked, typing in the commands as he went.

"Not Colony L2!" the Commander boomed and the soldier quickly changed his commands, "L2 will be blown up as a very last resort."

"May I ask why, Sir?" the soldier, finished typing in the commands, turned to him questioningly.

"Never blow up ones home." the Commander merely stated, his dark hair shielding his eyes.

The soldier looked confused, "Yes Commander Shitaihoshi." he nodded and turned back to his work.


	14. Chapter 14

****

Chapter 14

Heero flashed up on the comm. unit as Duo landed the Gundam.

"Break camp and be ready for the signal." were the eight words he said before the screen went blank.

"Cheerful guy, ne?" Duo flashed his lopsided grin at Reena, who was grabbing some of the stuff from the storage bin she had found in the floor.

"Nah, he's just worried about that girl Relena. Maybe after we get her out he'll lighten up." the blonde girl answered over her shoulder as she took a couple steps toward the door of the Gundam. She waited a minute and when Duo didn't open the door she turned to shoot him a look and found he was right behind her.

"Can we finish what we were up to before we were so rudely interrupted?" He asked, putting his arms around her waist, she nodded and tilted her head up to his. His lips brushed lightly against hers and she heard the sound of Quatre's voice. _Wait! _she thought, _Mou, he has the worst timing!_

Duo gave an exasperated sigh as he turned around to see Quatre's blushing face on the comm. screen. He gave him a look and opened the platform for Reena. As she was stepping out she heard him saying some things to Quatre, who was apologizing profusely by the sounds of it, she also thought she heard a girls voice in the background but waved it off, _Must be from the constant noise of the generators...I'm hearing things._

Reena studied the various curves and ledges for the best way to get down from her perch on the platform of Deathscythe. The towel she had managed to find among Duo's unorganized stored items was where she had thrown it, on the ground a couple feet from the Gundam. Reena sighed as she remembered the little pulley device her father had shown to her the last time she had gone for a ride in a mech. She glanced around, found it and let it lower her to the ground. She picked up her towel and set off on a natural trail she found in search of at least a stream to wash in. 

Reena was admiring the tall trees and the many colored flowers of the partial rainforest she was walking through. Only a couple kilometers to her right was the Sahara desert, and only a couple miles to her left was a dense tropical rainforest. _It's amazing how two totally different ecosystems can live together like this,_ she thought,_ a rainforest on the edge of the desert...how pretty._

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of water she heard the her right. She left the path and walked across many flat rocks as she made her way to the sound. Pushing the leaves of a flowering plant out of the way, she stepped into a small clearing. In front of her the ground ended in a short cliff, and to her left there was a hill that lead down to a shallow pool. She stepped closer to the cliff and saw a waterfall bubbling from a dark hole in the rock that fell to splash in the crystal water of the pool below her. Reena smiled and ran down the hill to the sandy shore of the pool. She dipped her hand in the water and felt it to be quite warm so she put the towel she was carrying down on a sun warmed rock and quickly undressed. She ran back up to the top of the hill and looked over the edge of the cliff.

__

The water's deep enough, she thought, _I didn't see anything dangerous when I was down there, and I'm still wearing my bikini from this morning, life is good. _she mused as she dived over the shallow cliff and into the deep clear water down below.

__

***

"Quatre, from now on if Reena is in the Gundam with me, do _not _go to vid screen first, Ok?" Duo said tersely into the monitor, Quatre blushed and started to apologize.

"Duo, I'm really sorry but I just wanted to make sure everything was going Ok." He said quickly as Duo was turning to leave, "Also, I have an unexpected—"

Duo leaned against the control panel and hit the switch for the comm. unit, turning it off. He smiled as Quatre's picture faded and was replaced by a blank screen.

"Oops, sorry buddy." he smiled playfully as he walked outside, grabbed the handle of the pulley system and jumped from the platform to the ground, landing gracefully. Pressing a button on a remote he retrieved from his pocket, the platform door closed and he activated the cloaking device. Making the Gundam less visible to any passing scouts from the base. 

Duo turned and walked in the direction Reena had went, passing through bushes and tall rainforest trees along a trail made by, what Duo thought, was frequent traveling by various animals. Soon he heard water and moved off the trail through some sparse undergrowth and hopped from rock to rock until he got to the source of the noise.

A small waterfall fell from the short cliff he was standing on, into an almost perfectly round pool below. The water was crystal clear and he could see the bottom of the miniature lake quite easily, he guessed it was about ten feet deep in the shallowest parts. The shore of the pool was sandy on one side and fringed by trees everywhere except for the break that lead up a small hill to where he was standing now. He looked around and saw Reena swimming over to one side of the waterfall wearing her white bikini from the previous day. He smiled as he remembered the guys reaction when they thought she had no top on.

Thinking quickly, Duo stripped down to his black boxers with 'Shinigami' written on the waist band and yelled from the top of the cliff, "Shinigami is back from hell!!!" as he cannon-balled into the water down below. 

Reena looked up quickly and was surprised to see Duo jumping off the cliff. Water splashed and she turned her head to shield it, when she turned back she saw Duo floating there with a mischievous grin on his face. She shook her head and dived underwater, swimming to the shoreline where she could touch. Duo followed her.

"It's cold!" he pouted and sat down on the sandy beach, his hair dripping into a puddle around him.

"Big baby." she smirked and he gave her his lop sided grin, "Your hair's wet now, you're lucky I grabbed one of the five brushes you had on my way out."

"I had brushes in there?" he asked, incredulous, "I remember putting them in but I could never find them." he looked at her as she rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Where'd you get that bikini?" he asked.

"I was wearing it this morning when me and the girls left, we were going to go swimming after but Heero didn't give me time to change." she explained, coming up to sit beside him, "You might want to clean out your storage box, there's a lot of stuff in there." she suggested, "Some of it might actually be useful..."

"I should, there's a first time for everything!" he said with determined nod, she laughed. Duo smiled and reached around to his braid. He unwound the black cord holding it together and started to undo it. Reena moved behind him and took over, running her hands through the chestnut hair as she went. Duo sighed as the last piece of hair fell to his shoulders.

Reena ran her hands down his back and up over his shoulders, leaving them to rest draped around his neck. He turned his head back and brushed a kiss over her lips, she responded by leaning against him. Duo reached up and brought her down across his knees, cradling her and pressing his lips to hers in a searing kiss. Reena reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and their tongues met. Duo's chestnut hair fell over his shoulder and mingled with her blonde hair as the sun set in the background.

***

Stars were shining in the sky when the couple got back to the lonely Gundam.

"Aw, we left Deathscythe alone all this time...poor guy!" Duo patted the metal foot of the Gundam. Reena looked up at the closed platform.

"Duo...I'm cold. How do we get back up there?" she asked, wrapping her arms around her shivering figure. Duo came over and threw his arm over her shoulder, careful not to scare her. She smiled up at him and he winked as he reached into his pocket. He fished around for a second, then, frowning, changed pockets. Still not finding anything he gave her an apologetic look.

"Ano...I kinda....well, I _had _this remote that well....." he began.

"Oh Duo..." she looked at him, her eyes opening wide, "you lost it? How are we gonna—" 

Duo smirked and flashed her the remote.

"Oh, you've lost it all right!" she sighed and hit him on the shoulder.

"Oi, I'm not that incompetent!" he gave her his lopsided grin as he pushed a button on the control. Deathscythe's lights flickered on and a huge hand lowered to the ground. Duo hopped on and offered his hand to help Reena up. She took it and as she steadied herself Duo pressed the button again, causing the hand to rise. Reena lost her balance and fell against Duo, who steadied her with a hand around her waist.

"Gomen hun." he smiled at her.

"You did that just to get me to fall on you!" Reena poked him. Duo flinched and looked at her, wide eyed.

"Me?!?!?" he asked innocently

"Don't give me that look." she poked him again.

"Ok, Ok! I'm ticklish!" he said as he flinched to the side again.

"I know." she giggled and poked him again as he jumped from Deathscythe's hand to the platform. He reached out his hand to help her and she took it. As she landed on the platform Duo pulled her close and leaned forward for a kiss, Reena ducked out of the way and Duo looked at her.

She pointed down to the place where they were standing on the ground. Duo looked down , and seeing nothing, looked back at her.

"What? Are you still afraid—" he began but Reena put her hand over his mouth and pointed down again. Duo looked down to see a black shape slinking out of the cover of the trees. Duo looked at her questioningly just as the figure below looked up, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

"A panther." she whispered, understanding dawned on Duo and he got an idea just as the panther, far below, put its paws on the foot of Shinigami. He flew inside, leaving Reena on the platform, and she heard him type something. She jumped as a bright green light came on to her right. Reena looked to find it was a glowing blade, the panther retreated quickly into the bushes.

"That," said Duo, emerging from the cover of the Gundam, "is The Scythe. Nobody scratches up my Gundam, baka neko."

"Kakkoi..." Reena said quietly, looking at the glowing scythe almost reverently. Duo looked at her, surprised.

"I agree." he said, nodding. "I've got a smaller one too." He said and stuck his hand inside the Gundam, fishing around a bit and biting his lip. "I use it for missions with a lot of fighting. Besides, you know what they say about scythes." He pulled out a long steel pole and flicked a switch on it. Immediately a long green blade flashed out. "The bigger the scythe, the bigger the man." Duo smirked and leaned on the pole.

"Sugoi." Reena said again as she looked at the smaller scythe in the pilots' hand. "Which scythe are you going by though?" She asked with a smirk.

"Well, this one's for novelty, that one," He nodded to Deathscythes' scythe, "Is the actual size."

She laughed and shook her head."So, where are we going to sleep?" Reena turned to Duo. 

__

"I guess we can sleep here, on the platform." he suggested, "We'll be close to Deathscythe if WuFei comes up on the comm. and we'll be out of everything's reach."

Reena agreed and deposited the towels and things in the Gundam storage box. She turned as Duo came up behind her, plopped himself on the floor beside the box and rifled through its contents. He pulled out a portable stove, cans of food and a roll of bedding. 

"I've only got one roll." Duo said, referring to the bedding, "I'll sleep in here, on the chair I guess"

"It's Ok, we can share." she suggested.

"You Ok with that?" he asked looking at her.

Reena looked up from folding a pile of fabric, "Hai, we both need a good nights sleep for the mission." 

Duo looked at her again, quizingly.

"I'm fine with it!!!" she insisted, "Mou..." she muttered. 

Duo stuck out his tongue at her and she threw a towel at him. Convinced she was really Ok with them sleeping together, he went back to sorting through the mess of stuff in the box.

***

Duo slipped out onto the platform, and seeing Reenas' still form, he tip toed to his side of the bed roll, not wanting to disturb her. The metal creaked and Duo cursed under his breath as Reena looked up at him.

"Gomen nasai, I didn't mean to wake you." He apologized as he plopped down beside her.

"S'Ok," she said, "I wasn't asleep." she turned her head and resumed looking up at the many blinking stars and the almost full moon that lit the night sky.

"Whatcha thinking?" Duo asked, noticing her dreamy look. She glanced over at him and smiled.

"Nothin much, how that there is Orion's Belt," she said, pointing over to a star pattern on their left, "and that's the little dipper, the big one's right there," she stated, pointing out each one in turn, "and that," she finished, pointing to the middle star in a cluster of five, "is the Colony I'm from."

"You're from a Colony?" Duo asked, surprised, "You never told me that!"

"You never told me you were the God of Death," she teased, "so we're even."

"Guess you're right, I"m from a Colony too, L2. I don't know which one it is though." he stated, looking up at the stars.

"That one over there." she pointed back over to the same star as before.

"You're from Colony L2!?" he asked, realizing that that was the same star she had called her home.

"Hai, I lived there before I moved here." she mumbled as she turned her back to him and closed her eyes.

"Tired?" he asked her, grinning. She nodded, her back to him, and punctuated that nod with a yawn. Duo chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"G'night." Reena mumbled sleepily.

"You're cold." Duo stated, he lifted the covers off of her and glanced underneath them. He saw she was wearing just her bikini. "You should wear more to bed, though I'm not complaining about about the view." Duo muttered as his eyes traced the line of her back, down farther, and finally along her legs as one kicked him.

"It's cold, and I only have the clothes I brought with me so I'm gonna keep them clean as long as I can. I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I walked around in the nude but I would." she muttered and he dropped the blanket.

He took his hand off her shoulder and muttered, "Kitto I would..." Remembering that there were no other blankets in the storage box, he sighed and draped his arm around her, laying close beside her, "How's this?" he whispered and kissed her ear. She leaned back against him and they both fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

****

Chapter 15

"Duo! Duo!! DUO!!!" yelled a voice over the comm unit. Duo jumped out of the bed roll, causing Reena to shoot him a dirty look and grumble something incomprehensible as she was rolled over. He raced into his Gundam and grabbed his black pants as he went, pulling them over his boxers and collapsing in the pilot chair in a heap.

"Nani, nani, nani!?" he asked the apparently miffed WuFei as he groped for his shirt and straightened himself in the chair.

"You were told to be ready!" yelled the dark haired boy over the comm.

"I am! I was! I was just...resting." he answered quickly as Reena walked into the Gundam in her bikini.

"I bet, '_resting_' all right." WuFei stated as he saw her stretch and lean on the back of Duo's chair, shooting him a sickeningly sweet look.

"Would you quit it Wuffie, you're always so...I dunno, uptight." Duo questioned the stern face of the boy on his screen.

"Don't call me that Maxwell! I'm not the one having _fun _before the mission, it's injustice." He said, nodding at Reena. Duo's eyes got cold and Reena could tell he was going to say something he'd probably regret later. Acting quickly, she leaned over the back of the chair and kissed him on the cheek.

"Injustice because he's gettin some and you're not? What we do or do not do," she told WuFei, "should be none of your concern. There was an original point to this message, other than to preach about injustice, ne?"

"Hai, there was." he grumbled, giving Reena a dark look, "We leave in one hour, be ready Duo." Were the Chinese boys' last words as his image flashed off the screen.

"I swear," Reena stated exasperatedly as she pulled on her black jeans over her bikini bottoms, "you'd think he'd never kissed a girl before. He's so..." she stated as she started to get things together.

"Arigato." Duo said quietly as he gathered up the bed roll and threw it in the storage box.

"For what?" she asked as she grabbed some stuff and headed out to the platform, intending to go back to the pond for a quick swim.

"For stopping me from saying what I was going to say." he said as he came out beside her with his stuff. She turned and winked at him as she made her way down to the ground, followed closely by him as they ducked into the trees and followed the path to their pond.

***

"How do you know we'll survive this Reena?" Duo asked solemnly with his back to the trees where she was getting changed.

"Because," she began, and he heard a rustling before she continued, "if you're the God of Death you can't be killed, and if I'm you're Angel," she stated, stepping out of the trees as he turned around, "neither can I."

Duo looked her over, amazed. She was wearing her black jeans and one of his black shirts from the Gundam, tied up in the front. Her blonde hair was done back in two braids almost as long as his and she had on a black hat over that. Around her neck she wore one of his clerical collars as a choker. The hand gun Heero had given her was tucked into her waistband and was hardly noticeable. She flashed him a mischievous smile as he met her eyes.

"You like? I hope you don't mind but I borrowed some of your stuff." she said, gesturing to the hat and the shirt. Duo just nodded dumbly. She laughed and pulled him back towards the Gundam.

"You have to promise me something Reena." Duo stated as he helped her up onto the platform, "You have to promise me we'll both come back from this alive, both of us." he said as he pulled her close and looked into her eyes. "I couldn't bare to lose you, ai—ai shiteru Reena."

Reena looked into his violet eyes and saw he was telling the truth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his, surprising him at first, until he started to kiss back. When they broke off she put her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I promise." as two tears rolled down her cheeks. _I'm not sure! _she thought, _Oh Duo_, _with what I have to do Duo, I'm not sure I'll come back..._


	16. Chapter 16

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Chapter 16

"They've seen us! Let Reena out and guard Wing!" Yelled Heero's voice over the comm. Reena looked at Duo and gave him a kiss on the cheek before pressing the platform button and jumping, via pully, to the ground.

"Follow me." Heero stated as he landed, taking off for the base doors as various MS streamed out of everywhere. She ran after him, trying hard to keep pace with his fast stride.

"What do I do if Relena isn't in there?" she half yelled to him. He turned and looked at her as they reached the front doors.

"She's in here. Find her, destroy the missile, and get the hell out before the base goes up in smoke." he answered and shot the lock on the door. Pushing it open they made their way to a computer room. 

Heero killed five guards and Reena tried her best to ignore the sick feeling she was having in her stomach."I'll break down the security from here, which means the doors and the alarms. Some might not be connected to this so be careful." he said, already typing on the computer. Reena turned to leave as Heero spoke again, "Reena, watch your back, you mean a lot to Duo." she turned back to look at him but he was busy typing.

***

"Don't piss off the God of Death!!!" Duo yelled, Deathscythe swinging around the Beam Scythe and blowing up two Leo's and an Aries.

The battle outside was a good one, about 300 suits in total, most of them being Taurus and Aries. The boys were having an easy time of it, though it was difficult to guard the Wing Zero.

"Quatre, your left!" yelled Trowa as he shot a Taurus multiple times, causing it to explode.

Quatre turned to his left and swung the two blades of his Sandrock down in an 'X', beheading a Aries. Lys was thrown a bit to the back and her hand landed on the button to open the door. It did and she jumped out and swung from the pulley thing to land on the ground. Quatre turned and yelled something to her but it was too late. Tears streaming down his face he turned and went back to the battle.

***

Lys jumped to the ground and ran for a building to her right, _Shelter! _she thought, _and I can prove that I'll be useful......_

She dodged the foot of a big green MS and another one behind it and ran into the building as the door closed behind her.

*** 

Reena stuck her head around a corner in the long hall she was in, two guards stood at the only door she had seen in the whole building that wasn't computerized. She cursed under her breath and got an idea. Forcing tears and sobbing a bit she ran around the corner full speed and bumped into one of the guards. Looking up at him and adopting a sad innocent look, she blinked away the blurryness in her eyes.

"Ano, miss. This is a restricted area. Are you lost?" asked the bewildered guard as he looked down at the girl in wearing a black hat that was clinging to his shirt. Reena sniffed and nodded. The guard looked at his partner, who shrugged.

"I guess I'll go tell the Commander we found her." he said as he turned down the hall. Acting quickly, Reena pulled out the gun and shoved it into the first guys stomach as she fired, silencing the shot a bit. She then turned to the other guard as the first one fell to the ground and shot him twice as he reached for his gun. He fell to the floor, the gun falling a few feet away from him. She reached down as she fought back the urge to vomit and picked it up. Seeing it was too heavy and she wasn't used to it, she dropped it and kicked it down the hall. However, the other soldier, as she found when she checked him, had a hand gun similar to hers. She picked it up and stuck it in her waist band. Her original gun ready, she slowly pushed open the door to the room.

*** 

Heero swore as he encountered another encrypted program on the computer. It wasn't only encrypted, but if he made the wrong command, he had a feeling something would blow up. He didn't want to find out what.

He thought for a minute and over-ridded the password only to find it was still encrypted.

"Kuso!" he swore and typed something in quickly. The screen flashed and he swore again, thinking he had triggered something. Heero typed in something and over-rode that. The screen flashed again and he found it no longer encrypted.

"That's good. I wonder what I did..." he mumbled as he proceeded to un-lock the computerized doors, shut down alarms and other security measures, and did a search on the type of missile they were using. The program came up, identifying the missile and it's co-ordinates but it would not allow him to change the commands from the room he was in. Heero realized he had to get into the main control room to do that.

"That's Reena's mission though..." he said as he walked out into the hall, "I guess I'll just help her out a bit." drawing his gun, he made his way to the main room from the map he memorized when shutting down everything.

*** 

"Quatre! Daijobu?!" Trowa yelled over the comm., "Wake up! I just blew up a guy that was going to singe your armor!"

"She left." Quatre said quietly as he sliced up an Aries, "She jumped out. I don't know where she is. I told her I'd protect her."

"She left? Lys left Quatre?!" Yelled Amis' voice, "Oh no...she's gonna blow something up."

"No, I don't think she made it out. I didn't even see her touch the ground." Quatre said quietly, shooting a Leo as it went to attack Duo's Gundam.

"She'll be Ok." assured Ami, who then got a weird look from Trowa, "What? She will. She can get herself out of trouble better than she can get into it, believe me, she has practice."

"C'mon Quatre, lighten up!" came Duo's voice, "Ami says she'll be fine, then she will." he assured Quatre as well, "Oh, buddy? How did they get here anyway!!!!!!!" 

"We snuck in. Hi Duo!!!" Ami yelled from Trowa's Heavyarms.

"I tried to tell you that Duo," said Quatre, shooting down another Aries, "but you 'accidentally' cut me off, remember?"

"Oh," Duo said as his scythe cut and Aries into three pieces, "that _was_ an accident Quatre. My hand kinda, umm...slipped." Duo finished lamely and shot a Leo.

"Stop this useless bantering!" WuFei yelled over the comm., "It was weakness on your part to let them tag along. We're on a mission. "

"Right," mumbled Duo, "it's not supposed to be fun at all." he said sarcastically and proceeded to cackle maniacally as he separated the tops of three MS from the bottoms, causing a big explosion.

WuFei shook his head and mumbled, "Why am I stuck with them. They are _supposed_ to be the perfect soldiers. It's injustice..."


	17. Chapter 17

****

Chapter 17

"Empty?" Reena whispered quietly and looked around the room she had just entered, "Shimatta!"

She scanned the room and her eyes settled on a door at the far side, "Well, while I'm in here I might as well....." she muttered as she vaulted over a row of computers and walked up to the door. "Seems to be locked, wasn't Heero supposed to take care of that?" she mumbled as she leveled her gun at it and fired a couple shots. The lights went out and she pried open the door to come face to face with a big guard.

"Excuse me Miss, please do not move any farther. This is a res—" started the man, pointing his gun at her. She thought quickly and dropped to the ground, tripping him. As he fell she brought her knee up to meet his face, hearing a cracking noise she confirmed she had broken something. She used her gun to whack him on the back of the head as she jumped back up, knocking him unconscious. Picking up his weapon and throwing the clipp, without which he cannot fire, back out the door from which she had came.

Reena hopped over the guard and into the room he came from. She saw a glass window and ran over to it, peering inside she saw a very unhappy girl pounding on a set of metal doors. She could faintly hear her screaming something.

"Let me out! Do you hear me? I order you to release me from this chamber!!!" the blonde girl yelled as she hit the metal doors repeatedly. Reena knocked on the window.

"Oi!!!" Reena yelled and waved, smiling. _I bet that's Relena_, she thought. Reena motioned her to move out of the way and the girl moved to the side. Pointing her gun at the window, Reena prepared to pull the trigger when a blonde blur appeared on the other side of the window, in front of her.

"Who are you? Let me out!!! Release me this minute!!!" yelled the girl as she pounded on the window, Reena sighed and shook her head.

"I'm here to help!" she yelled, "Now get out of my way!" _All that pounding must have given her brain damage_, she thought and pointed the gun directly at the blonde girls' chest and she hurriedly moved out of Reena's way. Reena fired three shots at one spot in the glass and it created a hole. Grumbling something about bullet proof glass, she fired multiple times and the glass shattered. Reena jumped through the window to the girl who immediately was hugging her.

"Domo arigato! Who are you? Arigato for helping me!" The blonde girl said, she looked up at Reena and stepped back from the girl dressed in black. "I'm Relena Peacecraft. Are you a rebel? Are you here to help me?" she asked.

"Ano....I'm Reena. Yes, I'm supposed to help you. I don't think I'm a rebel," she said as she walked over to the two doors Relena had been pounding on before, "I'm here with the Gundam pilots, I'm whatever they are." Reena said, trying to pry the doors apart.

"That won't work, miss." Relena said, clasping her hands in front of her, "It's locked, computers control it."

"I know that, Heero is undoing the computer locks in here as we speak." Reena told her, pulling on the door, "Now help me out here!" she said, motioning Relena over to the door. She came and helped pull. The door eventually opened enough for them to slip through, though Reena suspected it was most of her doing that allowed it. She shrugged it off and peeked around the room they were in. The room, which like the others, was filled with computers, was empty and the only other way into it was from the door on the other side. Reena walked quietly forward, signaling Relena quite clearly to be quiet as well. She walked over to the wall and pressed herself to it. Peering through the window at the top, Reena caught a glimpse of a guard on the right side, she did the same to the other window and saw three guards to her left.

_Shimatta! _she thought exasperatedly, then she saw a telescope in the room and numerous very complex looking computers, _This must be the room with the missile in it, that's why it's so heavily guarded!!!_ she cheered mentally. _It would make sense to have Relena by the main room, I guess. She could be used as a shield if someone tried to get in here and blow this up, like me! _Reena smiled at the thought and looked back at the doors to the room where Relena was being held before she escaped, to the right of the door she noticed a control panel, _Probably can be set to blow that room up. _She thought again, sighing mentally she ran back to the hall with the two guards she had first killed and searched for the big gun the one had had._ I wonder if I can pull this off, _Reena bit her lip as she looked around for the gun, _I have to hold out until I get to talk to _Him. _I really don't know why I have to do what I have to do...if Duo finds out, well, he'll probably never forgive me. _She fought back tears as she spotted the gun._ I'll probably end up getting killed whichever way I go. If not by _Him_, then by Heero or one of the other pilots. Duo might even when he finds out. _Picking up the gun, she shook her head fiercely. _Duo wouldn't ever hurt me, he told me that... _She wiped the tears that had appeared away and ran back through the doors. Reena found Relena looking at her quizingly and smiled as she showed her the gun, then led her to a spot behind two computers where she would be out of the range of fire if any shots should happen to come that way.

"I'm going to go through that door," she whispered as she pointed to the guarded door, "and I'm just gonna start shooting, I can't do much else. I hope surprise will help me out a bit. Stay here, don't move. If something happens to me, I want you to run out that way." Reena ordered, pointing to the chamber where Relena had been kept, "if you go down the hall and turn to your right every corner, you'll find your way out."

"What do you mean if something happens to you?!" Relena whispered back loudly, "You have to get in there and save the Colony!!!" 

Reena shook her head and stood up, rolling her eyes. Creeping silently towards the door, she kicked into a run and rolled into it, knocking it open and shooting the lone guard on the one side, using the door as a shield from the three on the left. She kept her finger on the trigger of the big gun she had taken from the soldier and shot wildly at the remaining ones. They went down one after another. Reena, miraculously, suffered only bruises on her upper arms from the jerking of the gun as it fired and from holding the door in place. She got up and motioned for Relena to join her, giving a _V _for Victory and winking.

"I'm way too lucky." she mumbled as she walked into the room and over to the biggest computer. Relena followed her in, trying to avoid looking at the dead guards, and sat down on a chair near the other girl.

"May I ask why you are so adept at..._that_?" she asked, and pointed to a dead guard.

"My....my father. He made me take lessons in shooting and things. Mostly just luck." she answered, while typing.

"Oh." Relena simply answered and fell silent to let Reena work.

Reena bypassed three different programs and over-ridded several password protected systems before she got to the program she needed and disabled the missile. After that, she spent another minute getting into another program of which she was very badly in need of.

"Aha! I found you. Time to have some fun." she smiled cryptically as she typed rapidly into the computer. Reena looked up as lights around her began to flash red.

"Five minutes until base self destruct." announced a computerized alert, "Please evacuate the premises."

"Ok," Reena grabbed Relena's arm and pulled her out of the door from which they had came, "we have to leave now."

"Did you disable the missile?" Relena asked, following her through the window which Reena had previously shot through to free her.

"Hai, and I was able to set the base to blow up quite soon, so pick up the pace Miss Relena." she answered, running out the door and over the two dead guards into the hall, her long blonde braids trailing out behind her.


	18. Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

Relena rounded a corner, with Reena right behind her, making sure the girl in front of her was protected from the pursuing soldiers. Reena stopped quickly and jumped in front of Relena when she saw a person in their way. As she pushed Relena out of the way she felt a sharp pain in her arm. Reena landed on the ground and immediately rolled to her knees as she pulled out both of her hand guns, aiming them at the person standing in front of her. She gasped when she recognized him.

***

Heero stood with a look of shock on his face as Reena pushed _his _Relena out of the way from a bullet he had fired by reflex at the figures dashing around the corner. He had shot to kill and Reena dove in front of Relena, knocking her out of the way but, he suspected, getting hit herself. She rolled to her feet as she landed and pointed two guns at him. Heero held up his hands and she relaxed, lowering her guns and dropping the left one from her hand as she clutched her arm.

"Heero, you're a good shot," Reena grumbled, "but you seem to have forgot something: I'm NOT the enemy!!!!!" she yelled at him and winced at the pain in her arm. 

Heero ran over and pulled back the torn part of her shirt covering her arm, looking at her wound. He gave an uncharacteristic sigh of relief, "It didn't puncture, it just scratched the skin." he told her.

"Scratched?!" Relena yelled and ran over to Reena, "That's no _scratch_! That's a very bad wound!!!" she shouted at Heero as she tore off a section of her shirt and tied it around the other blonde girls arm. "That was a deep cut! How could you have been so careless Heero?!" Relena shouted at the shocked Heero as she helped Reena up, who was still holding her arm in pain.

"It was not on purpose Relena." Heero said quietly and turned to Reena, "Daijabu desu ka?" He asked her. _Shimatta! If I hurt her, Duo'll have my head. That will make it extremely hard to complete missions. _Heero peered down at her expectantly.

"Hai, though you got my best side." Reena muttered, her hat casting a shadow over her face. "I'm not a perfect shot with my right...leave it to you." she grumbled and stood up straight. "We have to hurry, this base is going to blow. Heero, we have to get out of here!" she told him.

"One minute to detonation. Leave now." the computer announced, confirming the need to hurry.

Heero nodded and turned to run down the hall, followed by the two girls.

***

"What are those things?!" yelled WuFei when he saw two tan colored mobile suits emerge from one of the smaller buildings. The two suits looked exactly the same and seemed to hold no weapons at all.

"They look like a new type of MS." Trowa answered as he used his cannons to blow the head off an Aries. Fire enveloped its' body and Trowa moved on to another opponent.

"I'm not sure what they are Wu-man, but they'll get their turn. You must wait to greet the God of Death," Duo's voice came over the comm. as he looked at the pair of suits approaching the pilots, "I'm a bit busy at the moment. Too many customers right now." he grumbled and put his scythe through two Leo's to get his point across. 

"Kuso!" Trowa cursed to himself as he realized, yet again, that he was out of ammo.

"What's wrong?" Ami asked him, peering over his shoulder at the computer screens.

"I've got no more bullets left." He answered simply and proceeded to use the arm of Heavyarms to punch a meddling Taurus in the mechanical chest.

"Chotto matte." Ami said, pushing Trowa to the side and fiddling with the controls.

"What are you doing?!?!?" Trowa half yelled as she pressed a couple buttons and a yellow image came up on one of his screens, showing ammunition being loaded into Heavyarms. "How'd you do that?!" he asked as she moved away and he found he had another set of ammo in place.

"Simple really, the same thing happens to me in Starfox. I figured out that they carried an extra load of ammunition in all the possible ships. If you enter in the proper things it will reload it for you. The controls to this are pretty much the same, I just tried it out." She answered and shrugged.

"Comparing piloting a Gundam to a video game?" Trowa questioned as he turned back to the battle and resumed shooting things, "I could've really used this ammo that time when I was in Siberia. And when there was that attack on the Colonies..." he began, and listed off multiple times when extra bullets would've came in handy.

"Or," Ami jumped in, "that time when you had to destroy the new Taurus suits a while back..."

"How'd you know about that?" He questioned her.

"News. I quote: 'One Gundam apparently seemed to have run out of ammo. What do you make of this somewhat hilarious event Barbara?' 'Well Tim, I think the pilot would be prepared enough to realize....'" She stopped when she saw him blushing.

"I'm just saying I could've used it." He finished and shot down another Aries. He noticed Ami pouting, "Arigato." he turned to her and said. She brightened up and winked at him. Smiling a little, he turned back to the battle at hand.


	19. Chapter 19

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Chapter 19

"Commander, what are you doing?!" yelled a guard as he ran past the older man, who was heading into the building that was preparing to blow up.

"Stopping the detonation!" yelled back the Commander, "You fools were supposed to guard that room!!!" with that the Commander left the soldier and ran around the corner into the main room of the bases main building.

"One minute to detonation." came the computerized voice as the Commander reached the main computer and began to type quickly into it.

"Those fool guards! How'd this happen?" he muttered as he went through the difficult and time consuming procedures of shutting down the self destruct.

"Ten seconds to detonation." signaled the need for quickness.

"One damn minute you rotten computer!!! Just a few more seconds and—there!" the lights in the room stopped flashing as the Commander typed in the last command and collapsed in a nearby seat.

"Self Destruct avoided. Please resume regular duties." the computer's voice said over the faint noise of the battle outside.

"Now, that girl...is she still in here?" he wondered to himself as he saw the dead guards. "Fools." he growled and stepped past them into the room where Relena's prison was. "No, she's not here, I should have known it to be so. Must be a very good soldier if he can kill those guards," He muttered as he again stepped over the dead guards, walked out into the hallway and up the stairs back into his office, "they were the best I could buy." 

The Commander once again resumed watching the battle as he saw the two new MS, the Gemini, out on the battle field. He noticed they had picked their target, and were maneuvering around to opposite sides.

"Yare yare, this is working out perfectly. Save for the minor alarm earlier, I think this will be one of the my greatest and easiest won battles." He smiled as his dark hair shadowed his eyes and he continued to watch the scene unfold in front of him.

***

"Quatre! Who's that running from that building?" yelled Trowa over the comm. unit, referring to a small figure that was racing towards Quatre's Gundam. 

"Lys?! It's Lys?!?!" Quatre yelled as the girl reached the foot of Sandrock and he lowered one of the mechanical arms to pick her up while he shielded her with the other. 

"Lys?!" Trowa yelled back into the comm.

"Hai! Trowa, take care of these MS while I get here back up here, Ok?" Quatre didn't wait for a response as he slammed his fist down on the button to open the platform.. Lys jumped into the cockpit of Sandrock only to be swept up in a hug from Quatre. Getting over her surprise, she quickly broke away and lunged past Quatre.

"What are you doing?!" he squeaked as he was pushed to the side and Lys grabbed the controls of the Sandrock, swinging the arm around in a wide arc, cutting three approaching Aries in half.

"Saving your life." she answered simply and turned back to the shocked blonde boy.

"How'd you know?" he asked, bewildered since the machines never came up on his any of his screens.

"I saw them when you were lifting me up here." she shrugged.

Quatre hugged her once more, "Don't you ever do that to me again." he whispered to her.

"Do what? Save you're life?!" She asked him, her head in his shoulder.

"NO, silly. What on Earth possessed you enough to make you want to jump out of this Gundam?" he asked, a tear rolling down his cheek, though she couldn't see it as his head was buried in her dark hair.

"I wanted to help you." she whispered back.

"You saved my life," he pulled away and grabbed her shoulders, "that's enough help right there." He whispered as he moved in and kissed her. Lys's eyes widened but quickly closed as she leaned into the kiss of the blonde haired boy. When he broke it off she was disappointed.

Quatre smiled at her and sat back down in his chair, telling Trowa he was back. He looked out the vid screens at the 30 or so suits left and saw the building Lys had just ran from explode in a shower of flame and smoke. He looked back, very surprised, and found her smiling.

"What happened there Quatre?!" yelled Trowa, once again over the comm., "Did you do that?! Is Lys all right?!?!" 

"I'm fine Trowa," Lys answered, "I did that."

"Nani?!" yelled Quatre, "How'd you manage to do that?!"

"When there's a big red button that says 'Danger, Do Not Press' and you press it," she explained, "you know something like this will happen. Besides, I _told_ you guys I'm an expert when it comes to blowing things up." 

Quatre's laughter was soon accompanied by Trowa and Ami's as they resumed battling.

***

Heero was the first one to reach the exit doors of the building and pushed through them, looking around for danger. He heard the computer signify something in the back ground.

"Ten seconds to detonation." was what the computer said. 

"Come on.!!!" he yelled and raced across the battle field, motioning Relena to follow him. "Reena, you get back to Duo!" he yelled to her as he picked Relena up and jumped into the waiting Gundam.

"Duo!!!" Reena yelled into the portable comm. unit Heero had given her, "Get me the hell out of here now! The Angel of Death lives!!!" She added with a smirk. 

She saw the Deathscythe turn to her after he cleared the area of enemy MS with a quick sweep of his beam scythe, and lower his hand. 

"Good job Reena!!!" came Duo's voice over the outside speakers of his Gundam. She ran to jump on the lowered hand when she heard a whistling of air and a loud 'smack' as something hit the Gundam. It was followed by another one. Reena looked up to find two long cables attached to the Deathscythe, each one connected to a tan colored mobile suit that she had never seen before.

"Nande kuso—" she heard Duo's voice over the outer speaker, followed by a scream as a white light ran along the two cables into the Deathscythe.

"Duo!!!!!!!" she screamed when she heard his cry. _The cables, _she realized with a shock, _they're wires. Oh no!!!_

The Gundam knees buckled and it heaved down to the ground, knocking the no longer glowing Beam Scythe to clatter by it's feet. As it's lights flickered out the platform of the Deathscythe fell open and Duo rolled down and onto the ground, now three feet below the slumped over Gundam as a throng of soldiers ran out of a nearby building. Reena started to run to his side when she saw him being grabbed by the soldiers. 

"Duo!!!!!!" she yelled and saw a hint of movement in him. He turned back to look at the girl who the soldiers couldn't see and mouthed.

'Gomen nasai Reena, gomen. I lied to you.' Before he once again fell limp.

"No...I was the one who was supposed to die...not him." She felt her tears streaming down her cheeks as she fell to her knees. She realized what she was doing, "No, I won't do this." She said, forcing her self up, "I won't let this happen!!!" She yelled and ran into the Gundam, grabbing the pole of Duo's personal Beam Scythe. She raced toward the back of the group of disappearing soldiers as a building far behind her exploded and another one released a large group of MS.

The Beam Scythes' blade suddenly flashed on as Reena jumped off a somewhat high ledge into the middle of the small army of soldiers. She swung the laser blade of the scythe around in a circle, pivoting on her right foot as she took two steps and slew another five men.

"Attack!" yelled a man closer to the front and the men carrying Duo ran for the building as the rest turned to fight her. They spread out and drew their swords.

Reena, who had been merely acting on impulse realized the mistake she had made. She had no idea how to use this weapon of Duos and she was injured. A memory dawned on her: Kendo class, where you learn to battle with a long wooden stick which can prove to be lethal if handled properly, and Self Defense classes, where they taught you a variety of moves that could injure or disable your enemy, and also moves to help yourself. She was forced to take these lessons by her father. And fencing was her favorite sport, one of which she excelled at. Trying to make do with what she had, Reena combined the knowledge she had of the sword, the fist, and the stick to try to help her with this weapon.

Three soldiers advanced at her from three different angles, all had swords. She ducked as the closest one made a slash towards her shoulder and used her right arm to bring the blade of the scythe around in an arc . As her weapon had more reach than her attackers, she succeeded in separating his body into two parts. She rolled to the side and brought the pole of the scythe up in front of her in a move she had learned from her Kendo classes, and blocked the downward slash from her third opponent. Kicking up with her foot, she connected square in the groin and the mans grip loosened noticeably. She kicked with both her feet at the mans' stomach and rolled to the side as she tilted the scythe pole and effectively deflected the mans' sword. Reena jumped up and quickly drew the laser green blade of the scythe through the mans' body, slicing him in two pieces. The man fell to the ground with a look of surprise permanently frozen on his face.

The final man of the original three that attacked her was joined by four others that were coming at her from all angles. She pushed the end of the pole back and ducked when she heard someone charging at her from behind. The attacker doubled over from the pole and sent his sword through the chest of the man on front of Reena. She quickly brought the scythe around in a full circle around her body, slicing them both in half, and shifted her hold on it to both hands as she stepped into a wide swing. Her agility to surprised the men for about three seconds before they lay dead on the ground as well. 

Reena used the momentum of her swing to carry her into a roll and came up to face her final two enemies. Kicking into a running charge at the closest one she let out a yell as she plunged the end of the scythe into the ground and used it to vault into the air and give her more strength to her kick, which connected square in the jaw of the man. Rolling forward to her knees when she landed, she sliced in an upward hook into the second soldier, and continued the motion into a circle as she stood up and brought the scythe to hook down into the first man.


	20. Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

"Nani—?!" yelled Trowa as the smoke cleared from a blown-up Leo, "Where'd all those suits come from?!?!" 

Quatre turned and looked over the battle field to find at least another 200 suits waiting for them, "It's not possible!!!" he yelled, amazed.

"Looks like they had backup guys." WuFei stated calmly, "Anyone of you seen Duo?"

"He's on the west side of the building." Heero stated as Wing Zero was seen blowing up around ten of the newly arrived suits.

"No, Heero," WuFei answered and blew up two MS using his dragonclaws, "I'm on the west side."

"He's not over here." chorused Trowa and Quatre, who were on the east and north sides, respectively.

"I don't see him from here, I'll take a look around." Heero called back then realized something, _that building we came out of should've blown up by now...could the self destruct have been shut down? If so...by who?_

"Heero, did you get Relena?" asked Quatre as he sunk his two blades into an Aries.

"I'm here." she stated over the comm., "Reena got me out, even though he shot her."

"You shot Reena?!" yelled Lys, "What the hell were you thinking baka?!?!?"

"It was by mistake!" yelled back Heero and it seemed like he put extra force into the blow at a Taurus, "I was shooting at Relena and she got in my way..." he mumbled.

"You make that sound as if it were a _bad_ thing Heero." Trowa said.

"No, well...I just don't like to make mistakes." He mumbled again.

"What is wrong with you people?! Is Ree Ok?!?!?" Ami shouted.

"I hit her arm, it wasn't a very bad hit, she dodged most of it, she's fine." he answered.

"Oi guys," Quatre said slowly, "shouldn't Duo be freaking out at Heero right now? He hasn't come in on this conversation yet and I'm a bit worried." 

"Hai, you're right Quatre. Duo always has his two cents worth to put in and I imagine he'd be pretty pissed about Heero shooting his girlfriend." Trowa stated, "Isn't that right Duo?"

No answer.

"Duo!" Quatre called, "You there? This isn't funny Duo!" 

"I don't see him anywhere. That base we came out of should've blown up by now." Heero looked up at a team of Aries that were hovering behind the field of MS.

"What are those four mechs doing over there?" asked WuFei, "Can you see them? The four Aries at ten o-clock." 

"I see them." Heero said, "It looks like they're up to something, I'll work my way over there. You guys just keep fighting. This whole base must be destroyed." he said as he slashed down eight Leo's with his beam sword and worked his way over to the Aries.

"No, Allah!" Quatre yelled, "Shoot them!!! Shimetta!!! Kill those bastards!!!" Quatre went off into a string of curses in Arabic, English, Chinese and Japanese as he tried to work his way to the Aries.

"Quatre? Daijobou?" Trowa asked, bewildered at his friends new additions to his usually mild vocabulary.

"Kisamas!!!" yelled Heero as he too saw what Quatre had seen, "They have the Deathscythe!!!" 


	21. Chapter 21

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Chapter 21

Duo looked up groggily from his position on a cold stone floor. Shaking his head to try to clear the headache, he groaned when a wave of nausea overcame him.

"Ah, I see you're awake young man." stated a cold voice and Duo heard shifting behind him.

"No, I'm not awake." Duo answered coldly, still on the floor, "kill me now, you coward or do you want to wait until I really _am _awake to face me?" he grumbled at the shadow that appeared from behind him,"Because if you wait, then you'll lose. "

"Now dear boy, why ever would you think I'm a coward? And how did you come to the assumption that I wanted to kill you?" came the voice again. Duo knew it was a male and he muttered curses at him under his breath.

"Well, when you get electrocuted by two new kinds of MS, then thrown into a cell, a _cold_ prison-like cell, and as soon as you wake up a menacing baka comes in and pretends to be all nice when underneath he's really just a sinister kuso yaro," Duo said as he pushed himself up to a kneeling position and tried to recover his wits, still facing away from the man, "I _know _I'm not in here for tea."

"I see you still have a sense of humor about you. What, may I ask, is your name?"

"Mou, a polite murderer. Seems like there's a lot of Trieze-like enemies around these days." he grumbled and slowly pushed himself to his feet, "It's too bad Trieze went and got himself killed, you could take a couple lessons from him. As for my name, you can call me Shinigami."

"Oh, the God of Death now, are we? Seems like you have a very high opinion of yourself." Duo stiffened at this. "Obviously vain as well, my, you do think highly of yourself. With that long braid of yours I'm surprised you actually have enough time to pilot your Gundam between trips to the mirror to see if your hair's all right. I think it would be much more suited to you at, oh, I'd say _shoulder_ length." 

Duo uttered a low growl in his throat, no one messed with his braid. _This kisama, he'll pay dearly. He has no idea what he's getting himself into if he touches my braid._

Nuiava chuckled at the reaction he got from the boy. "Please, let's forgo this immaturity and have a civil conversation. Your name?" 

_Civil?! Kami-sama, we're in a dungeon cell! H_e thought exasperatedly but sighed and gave into the man, "Duo, Duo Maxwell." he grumbled.

"Ah, I'm known as Nuiava Shitaihoshi." the man said coolly and Duo heard him shifting again.

_Why is that name so familiar? Shitaihoshi...I can't think why I recognize it, _he thought for a minute, _oh well, it'll come to me._ He shrugged and kept his back to the man.

"Well then, are you comfortable? Would you like anything to eat, a beverage maybe?" suggested Nuiava.

"What? Why the hell would I want one of those? And no, I'm not comfortable. My head hurts like hell, my hair's gone frizzy from your little electric toys, this cell's cold, you've kidnapped me, and—" Duo ranted, but stopped before he said the last word. _That would make him think I'm weak, I can't do that. _he thought frustratedly, _Oh god, now I sound like Wu-man. Duo Maxwell, pull it together!!!_

"And...? I believe you left that sentence unfinished." Nuiava Shitaihoshi coolly motioned for the two outside guards to come in.

"Great, you sound like my old teacher." Duo grumbled. 

"Oh, come now. You're being difficult when all I'm trying to do is make this as pleasant as possible for you."

"Pleasant?!?" Duo roared, "Nande kuso, this is supposed to be _pleasant_?!?!?!?"

Nuiava shook his head and a look of mild annoyance at the braided boy flashed across his face. "If we're done with this obviously useless conversation I'd like you to please follow me." Nuiava turned and started to walk smoothly out the cell door.

"I don't think so!!!" Duo yelled and turned around, preparing to land a kick to the man's side.

Nuiava quickly dodged, anticipating this, and one of the two guards grabbed Duo while the other one readied a needle and injected it into the struggling pilots arm.

"Tsk tsk, Duo. You'd think you'd be nicer to someone in control of your life." Nuiava hissed, pulling Duo's head back by the braid so the shadows were off his face. "Now I'll just have to move to plan B since you're being uncooperative." He said coldly and forced Duo to look him in the eyes before the drug took effect.

Duo avoided the man's gaze as much as possible and berated himself for not noticing the two other guards. He felt the drug they had given him start to work it's way through his blood stream, he was fighting to stay awake when another sharp tug on his braid made him meet Nuiava's eyes. His cold blue eyes that reminded him of someone, though her eyes were gentler and had a spark of mischief and determination in them, but they were accompanied by love.

"You'll be our bait. Your Gundam has a part in this too." Nuiava's voice echoed through his groggy mind as a realization hit him and woke him up briefly from his drug-induced reverie.

"Reena!!!" what all he could gasp before he plunged into the pitch black darkness of a fake and uncomfortable sleep plagued with bad dreams he thought he had long forgotten, but these dreams starred a new face. The face of the girl he loved, and he wasn't going to let the only thing in this world that cared about him get killed. Not even if he himself had to be killed to save her. 


End file.
